Jumping-mechanism
Guides
Alaus patricius
Caribbean Eyed Click Beetle
Alaus patricius, known as the Caribbean Eyed Click Beetle, is a large click beetle in the family Elateridae. Like other members of the genus Alaus, it is characterized by prominent false eyespots on the pronotum that serve as a defensive adaptation against predators. The species exhibits the family's namesake clicking mechanism, using a prosternal spine and mesosternal notch to launch itself into the air when threatened or overturned. Larvae are predatory, inhabiting decaying wood where they hunt other insect larvae.
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.
Lanelater sallei
Lanelater sallei is a species of click beetle in the family Elateridae. The species has been used in biomechanical studies investigating the jumping mechanism of click beetles, which rely on a prosternal spine and mesosternal notch to produce an audible click that launches the beetle into the air. Studies using this species have supported hypotheses about the evolution and function of the clicking mechanism in elaterids.
Lanelater schottii
Lanelater schottii is a species of click beetle in the family Elateridae. The genus Lanelater includes large-bodied species characterized by prominent eye spots on the pronotum, a defensive adaptation common in this group. These beetles possess the family's characteristic prosternal spine and mesosternal notch mechanism that produces the audible clicking sound used for predator evasion and self-righting. Like related species such as Lanelater judaicus, members of this genus are capable of launching themselves vertically when clicking, with jumps exceeding several body lengths.