Don Siegel, age 13, of Saratoga Springs, N. Y., for is question:
What is a click beetle?
This acrobatic beetle is named for the noise he makes when he turns a somersault. He is also called an elater and in North America there are about 500 of his cousins. These fellows are found throughout New England and the Southland, through Texas, Arizona and southern
California. They are not counted among our insect friends, for elaters feed on our potatoes and other root crops.
The larvae of the click beetle are small yellow grubs known as wireworms. They live in the ground or in old tree stumps and rotting wood. Some of these little beasties feed on our young corn or wheat seeds before our crop plants can get started. Some of the grown beetles feed on other insects or on plant leaves.
The click beetles of the tropics are often gaily colored and some of them can glow in the dark. Our native click beetles are more drab in color, though some of them are spotted with a pair of eye like dots. They are long and slender insects, brown, black or grey. One common variety has a pair of dark eye dots on his shoulders.
Though the click beetle does not do much climbing, he is all prepared for a fall. If he lands on his back, he does a neat little somersault and rights himself. This is the trick which makes the click from which he gets his name.
Like all insects, the click beetle has a body in three parts. He has a head, a thorax or chest and an abdomen or tummy. He has a waist between his thorax and his abdomen and Mere we find the gadget which helps him click. The entire insect, of course, is covered with a crisp shell.
At the joint where the thorax and abdomen meet there is a little prong and a groove. The prong is on the abdomen and it extends up to fit in the groove, which is in the thorax.
When the beetle is in a normal position, the prong and groove fit together to form a smooth surface. This changes when the insect falls on his back. For a minute or so he remains quite still. Then the tail down end of his abdomen begins to tip/ and the prong separates from the up little groove. The tail end then tips and the prong and groove lock together. Then, in a flash, the little gadget works like a spring. Click the beetle turns a somersault in the air.
Chances are he will land right way up and stand there on his six legs. But there may be too much or too little spin on the turn and Mr. Click Beetle lands on his back again. In this case he will try again. Sometimes it takes a dozen somersaults before the beetle is right side up and each one of them happens with a click.