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.
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.
Byrrhoidea is a superfamily of beetles belonging to Elateriformia that includes several families which are either aquatic or associated with a semi-aquatic habitat. Other than the superfamily Hydrophiloidea, most of the remaining Polyphagan beetles which are aquatic are in this superfamily.
The Rhagophthalmidae are a family of beetles within the superfamily Elateroidea. Members of this beetle family have bioluminescent organs on the larvae, and sometimes adults, and are closely related to the Phengodidae, though historically they have been often treated as a subfamily of Lampyridae, or as related to that family. Some recent evidence suggested that they were the sister group to the Phengodidae, and somewhat distantly related to Lampyridae, whose sister taxon was Cantharidae, but more reliable genome-based phylogenetics placed as the sister group to the Lampyridae.
The Lycidae are a family in the beetle order Coleoptera, members of which are commonly called net-winged beetles. These beetles are cosmopolitan, being found in Nearctic, Palearctic, Neotropical, Afrotropical, Oriental, and Australian ecoregions.
Platerodrilus is a genus of beetles of the family Lycidae. They commonly appear in the literature under the name Duliticola, which is an obsolete junior synonym. The females retain a larval form as adults and are about 40–80 mm in length. The females and larvae have a flattened, dark body with large scales over the head, resembling trilobites, hence the informal names trilobite beetle, trilobite larva or Sumatran trilobite larva. In contrast, the males are much smaller, 8–9 mm, resembling other beetles. Species are found in tropical forests of India and South-east Asia.
The Omalisinae are a small subfamily of morphologically derived elaterid beetles. The Omalisinae were long considered an independent family in the deprecated family Cantharoidea, and later a family in the Elateroidea, but molecular phylogenies have demonstrated the morphological similarity of Omalisinae to other soft bodied beetles is a case of parallel evolution (homoplasy) of their soft bodies, rather than an apomorphy. Members of this beetle subfamily have been reported to have bioluminescent organs on the larvae, although no recent publications have confirmed this. Some recent evidence indicated they were the sister group to a clade comprising the families Rhagophthalmidae and Phengodidae, however a more comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on genome sequences strongly supported the Omalisinae as being contained within the Elateridae.
Drilini is a tribe of beetles known commonly as the false firefly beetles, in the family Elateridae.
Cautires is a genus of beetles in the family Lycidae.
Agrypninae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are at least 130 genera and more than 430 described species in Agrypninae.
Lycinae is a subfamily of net-winged beetles in the family Lycidae.
Promecheilidae is a family of beetles in the superfamily Tenebrionoidea. Perimylopidae is considered a synonym. They are found in southern South America and associated archipelagos like South Georgia and the Falklands, New Zealand and Tasmania. Some species are associated tree ferns and moss-covered dead wood, and other forested habitats, while others are associated with peat bogs, grasslands and coastal habitats. They are probably phytophagus, feeding on lichen, moss, and other plant material.
Hemiopinae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are at least four genera in Hemiopinae.
Oestodinae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are at least two genera in Oestodinae.
Parablacinae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are about eight genera in Parablacinae.
Physodactylinae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are at least two genera in Physodactylinae.
Pityobiinae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are at least two genera and two described species in Pityobiinae.
Tetralobinae is a subfamily of click beetles in the family Elateridae. There are about 7 genera and more than 20 described species in Tetralobinae.
The Lycini is a species-rich beetle tribe belonging to the subfamily Lycinae
Telegeusinae is a small subfamily of beetles in the family Omethidae recognizable by enlarged palpi found in males. Though relatively rare, males are sometimes found in large numbers in black light traps. Females are not known in this group, but it is theorized that females are larviform as found in many closely related taxa.
