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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Click, Firefly and Soldier Beetles (Elateroidea) » Click Beetles (Elateridae) » Agrypninae » Alaus » Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus)

Species Alaus oculatus - Eyed Click Beetle

Classification · Other Common Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Beetle With Eyes on Back - Alaus oculatus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Coleoptera (Beetles)

Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)

Superfamily Elateroidea (Click, Firefly and Soldier Beetles)

Family Elateridae (Click Beetles)

Subfamily Agrypninae

Genus Alaus

Species oculatus (Eyed Click Beetle)

Other Common Names

Eyed Elater, Eastern Eyed Click Beetle

Size

25-45 mm

Identification

Large size, huge eyespots on pronotum distinctive.

Range

Eastern and central North America--widespread. South Dakota east to Quebec, south to Texas, Florida.

Habitat

Deciduous/mixed forests and woodlands

Season

Much of year in south. Spring-summer farther north? Most frequently seen in spring and summer.

Food

Adults may take some nectar and plant juices. Larvae are predatory, eating grubs of wood-boring beetles like cerambycids (longhorns).

Life Cycle

Eggs are laid in soil. Larvae predators of beetle larvae in decaying wood, especially hardwoods. Pupation is in unlined cell underground or in rotting wood. Adults come to lights.

See Also

Alaus myops. A. myops is more slender, has more mottled gray elytra (not shiny with white specks), smaller eyespots.

Print References

Dillon, p. 312, plate XXXII (1)

Milne, p. 565, fig. 186 (2)

Papp, p. 109, fig. 341 (3)

White, p. 173, fig. 40 (4)

Arnett et al. p. 197, fig. 476 (5)

Brimley, p. 165, lists occurence all year in North Carolina, most common February-June, notes association with oaks. (6)

Internet References

Side by side comparison of Alaus oculatus and Alaus myops

Clemson Univ.

Dr. Jay's photo gallery

Insects of Cedar Creek

Forestry Images

Univ. Florida Featured Creatures--good detail on larva

Beetles of Florida--gives range.

Works Cited

1.	A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America By Dillon, Elizabeth S., and Dillon, Lawrence

2.	National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders By Lorus and Margery Milne

3.	Introduction to North American Beetles By Charles S. Papp

4.	Peterson Field Guides: Beetles By Richard E. White

5.	How to Know the Beetles By Ross H. Arnett, N. M. Downie, H. E. Jaques

6.	Insects of North Carolina By C.S. Brimley

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Hannah Nendick-Mason, Stephen Cresswell, Joshua Stuart Rose
Last updated 1 August, 2008 - 1:34pm

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