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TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Alaus

Blind Click Beetle - Alaus myops click beetle - Alaus oculatus Texas Click Beetle - Alaus lusciosus Alaus myops  - Alaus myops Big Eyed Click Beetle? - Alaus oculatus Florida Beetle - Alaus myops Alaus melanops Alaus zunianus? - Alaus zunianus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Elateriformia)
Superfamily Elateroidea
Family Elateridae (Click Beetles)
Subfamily Agrypninae
Tribe Hemirhipini
Genus Alaus
Explanation of Names
Alaus Eschscholtz 1829
from Greek alaos (αλαος) 'blind'
Numbers
6 spp. in our area(1), dozens worldwide
Size
25‒45 mm
Identification
Large, usually with prominent eyespots on pronotum (spp. compared here)
larvae of eastern spp. described in(2)
see also(3)
Range
A. oculatus e.NA (QC‒FL to SD‒TX)(4)
A. myops se.US (southern pine forests)
A. melanops w.NA (overlaps with A. oculatus in SD)
A. lusciosus AZ‒TX‒KS(5)
A. zunianus AZ
The West Indian A. patricius has been recorded from the Florida Keys(4)
Habitat
deciduous and coniferous forests; larvae in decaying hardwood or pine wood, esp. in decaying roots
Food
Larvae feed on larvae and pupae of various insects, esp. beetles
Internet References
Fact sheet (Woodruff 1999-2004)(6)
Works Cited
1.Johnson P.J. (-2013) Elateridae of Canada and the Continental United States
2.Larvae of Alaus myops, A. oculatus, Chalcolepidius porcatus, Hemirhipus apicalis and generic larval characterization...
S.A. Casari. 2002. Iheringia, Sér. Zool. 92(2): 93-110.
3.Systematics and phylogenetic analysis of Alaus Eschscholtz, 1829 (Coleoptera, Elateridae)
S.A. Casari. 1996. Revta bras. Ent. 40(2): 249-298.
4. A distributional checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida.
Peck & Thomas. 1998. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville. 180 pp.
5.Checklist of the Elateridae of Mexico.
Johnson, P.J. 2010. 2010. South Dakota State University, Brookings.
6.University of Florida: Featured Creatures