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CLICK BEETLES AND ALLIES

ELATEROIDEA

T

he superfamily Elateroidea consists of

around 13 families and almost 25,000 species,

although more than 90 percent of these are

clustered into just four large families: Elateridae,

Cantharidae, Lycidae, and Lampyridae, which

appear in other sections of this book. The nine

smaller families, with their number of named

species, are Eucnemidae (1,500), Phengodidae

(250), Throscidae (150), Artematopodidae (45),

Omethidae (43), Rhagophthalmidae (30),

Cerophytidae (21), Brachypsectridae (5), and

Rhinorhipidae (1). There has been some recent

taxonomic change, with several small families

having been absorbed into larger ones following

new information from DNA studies: for example,

the former family Drilidae, an interesting group of

snail predators, was recently transferred into the

click beetle family Elateridae.

Some members of Elateroidea are unique

among beetles, almost among insects, for being

bioluminescent, that is, able to produce visible light,

which is used in nocturnal beetles for mate attraction

and sometimes for defense (when larvae or adults

suddenly light up, to alarm a potential predator).

The Lampyridae, the glowworm and firefly family,

are the most famous light-producing beetles, but

there are bioluminescent members of at least four

families, the others being Elateridae, Phengodidae,

and Rhagophthalmidae. Phylogenetic study of these

beetles shows that the production of light must have

evolved, or been lost, multiple times. A new genus

Sinopyrophorus, just discovered in 2019 in western

Yunnan, China, is also bioluminescent, and may be

sufficiently different from other Elateroidea to merit

the description of a new family. Major new

discoveries are still being made in Coleoptera.

ELATEROIDEA—Click Beetles and Allies

superfamily

Elateroidea

known species

25,000

distribution

Worldwide, especially in warmer climates

habitat

Found almost everywhere, from parks and

gardens, to northern tundra, to the canopy

of tropical rainforests

size

4–80 mm

diet

A very wide range of diets. Many larvae

are predators, though some feed on fungi

or dead wood. Adults in many groups do

not feed at all, though others are predatory

or feed on leaves or flowers

notes

The Elateroidea itself was originally treated

as two superfamilies, the hard-bodied

left | Brachypsectra fulva

(Brachypsectridae) Larva of the Texas

beetle. Short-lived adults are rarely

seen, but the distinct predatory larvae

are found under tree bark.