Defensive-eyespots
Guides
Alaus lusciosus
Texas Eyed Click Beetle, Texas Click Beetle
Alaus lusciosus, the Texas Eyed Click Beetle, is a large click beetle (Elateridae) distinguished by prominent false eyespots on the pronotum. Adults measure 20–35 mm and are nearly identical to A. zunianus, with which they share rounder eyespots and ivory or beige mottling rather than stark white patterning. The species ranges from Texas to southern Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas, where adults are active during the day or at dusk and are strong fliers. Larvae are predatory, inhabiting decaying wood and preying on other beetle larvae and pupae.
Alaus zunianus
Zuni Click Beetle, Arizona Eyed Click Beetle
Alaus zunianus, the Zuni Click Beetle or Arizona Eyed Click Beetle, is a large, striking species of click beetle in the family Elateridae. It is characterized by prominent false eyespots on the pronotum, a robust body, and the ability to produce an audible clicking sound by snapping a prosternal spine into a mesosternal groove. This species appears confined to Arizona and is distinguished from related eyed elaters by its rounder eyespots and ivory or beige mottled coloration rather than stark white.