Elateridae or click beetles are a family of beetles. Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, spring beetles or skipjacks. This family was defined by William Elford Leach (1790–1836) in 1815. They are a cosmopolitan beetle family characterized by the unusual click mechanism they possess. There are a few other families of Elateroidea in which a few members have the same mechanism, but most elaterid subfamilies can click. A spine on the prosternum can be snapped into a corresponding notch on the mesosternum, producing a violent "click" that can bounce the beetle into the air. Clicking is mainly used to avoid predation, although it is also useful when the beetle is on its back and needs to right itself. There are about 9300 known species worldwide, and 965 valid species in North America.
Glowworm or glow-worm is the common name for various groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females that glow through bioluminescence. They include the European common glow-worm and other members of the Lampyridae, but bioluminescence also occurs in the families Elateridae, Phengodidae and Rhagophthalmidae among beetles; as well as members of the genera Arachnocampa, Keroplatus and Orfelia among keroplatid fungus gnats.
The Elateroidea are a large superfamily of beetles. It contains the familiar click beetles, fireflies, and soldier beetles and their relatives. It consists of about 25,000 species.
Selasia is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Elateridae, having historically been placed in the family "Drilidae", which was recently subsumed by Elateridae.
Plastocerus is a genus of click beetles, the sole member of the subfamily Plastocerinae; while it has historically often been ranked as a family, the genus is now placed firmly within the family Elateridae.
Eucnemidae, or false click beetles, are a family of elateroid beetles including about 1700 species distributed worldwide.
Athous vittatus is a species of beetle in the family Elateridae and the genus Athous.
Cardiophorus is a genus of click beetles.
The Pyrophorini are a New World taxonomic tribe within the Elateridae subfamily Agrypninae. Pyrophorini is a tribe of bioluminescent beetles, and includes such genera as Pyrophorus and Ignelater.
Pityobiinae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are at least two genera and two described species in Pityobiinae.
Sinopyrophorus is a genus of bioluminescent hard-bodied clicking beetles in the superfamily Elateroidea, and is the sole member of the recently recognized family Sinopyrophoridae. The genus currently contains a single species, Sinopyrophorus schimmeli, which was described in 2019 from the subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests of western Yunnan, China.
Ampedus is a genus of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are currently 461 recognized species of Ampedus beetles. It has a cosmopolitan distribution, but is found mostly in the Holarctic region, primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. The oldest known fossil from this genus was found in Eocene Baltic amber, estimated to be from 38.0 to 33.9 million years ago.
Aeolus is a genus of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are more than 220 described species in Aeolus, found throughout the world.
Conoderus collaris or Prodrasterius collaris, is a species of click beetle found in Indian subregion from Pakistan, Assam to Sri Lanka.
Drasterius sulcatulus, is a species of click beetle found in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE and Oman.
Melanotus cribriventris, is a species of click beetle found in India, Sri Lanka, China and USA.
Melanotus punctosus, is a species of click beetle found in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Hawaii.
Selasia apicalis, is a species of false firefly beetle found in Sri Lanka.
Diplostethus is a genus of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are about six described species in Diplostethus, found in the Nearctic and the Neotropical Regions.
Dipropus is a genus of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are around 150 described species in Dipropus, found in North, Central, and South America.
