Hilton Pond Logo
HOME: www.hiltonpond.org

GENERAL INFO

CONTENTS

RESEARCH

EDUCATION

PUBLICATIONS

MISCELLANY

"THIS WEEK at HILTON POND"
15-21 May 2001

Here's "Looking" At You:
The Eyed Click Beetle

Sometimes when we go to the woods around Hilton Pond Center, we get the eerie feeling that someone--or something--is watching US while we're watching nature. Occasionally, however, the beady little eyes that are staring at us aren't eyes after all--as is the case with the Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus).

All photos © Hilton Pond Center

Nearly two inches long and found across the eastern U.S. as far west as Texas, this gray and black and white insect is one of the largest members of the Click Beetle Family (Elateridae); the huge eyespots on its pronotum make it one of the most easily identified. These are "false eyes," of course--likely an adaptation to scare off potential predators. The true eyes of the Eyed Click Beetle are much smaller and located at the bases of its heavily sawtoothed antennae (below left).

Few of the 800 or so North American Click Beetles are as dramatically marked as the Eyed Click Beetle. Most are considerably smaller (a half-inch long or less) and without distinctive markings. Several uniformly brown or black species are frequently seen around porch lights.

Despite their differences in appearance, all Click Beetles have a startling behavior that demonstrates how they got their primary name--as well as the alternate names of "snapping beetle," "skipjack," and "spring beetle." When placed on its back--or when grabbed by an insectivore--a Click Beetle bends its head and prothorax backward and then straightens out suddenly with a snapping motion, which results in an audible click and launches the beetle several inches into the air. This stunt is facilitated by a spine on the underside of the prosternum that fits into a groove in the mesosternum (below).

Occasionally, a Click Beetle will take flight during its midair maneuver, but more often it simply falls back to earth. If it lands on its back, the beetle may "click" again, or it may tightly tuck its legs and antennae and "play possum" until the predator loses interest. Eventually, it will wander off, perhaps looking for food (flower nectar or leaf sap) or a mate.

Click Beetles--like bees, ants, butterflies, and some other insect orders--undergo a four-stage (complete) metamorphosis that includes the egg, larva (AKA "grub"), pupa, and adult. Although adults are harmless, Click Beetle larvae cause significant agricultural and horticultural damage. Click Beetle grubs--also known as "wireworms" because of their elongated shape and hard exoskeletons (above right)--live in soil or dead wood for two to ten years, depending on the species. During that time, they chow down on roots and stems-- including those attached to corn, potatoes, tobacco, turf grasses, garden ornamentals, and a variety of legumes.

We don't grow any of these plants at Hilton Pond Center, of course, so we're content to let wireworms go about their subterranean business and, as they mature, to delight us with the acrobatic antics of adult Eyed Click Beetles.

All photos © Hilton Pond Center


If you enjoy "This Week at Hilton Pond," please help Support

Hilton Pond Center for
Piedmont Natural History

BIRDS BANDED THIS WEEK at HILTON POND CENTER

Black-throated Green Warbler (male)
(Only the sixth of this species
ever banded at
Hilton Pond Center)


The following species were banded this week (15-21 May):

Chestnut-sided Warbler--1
Magnolia Warbler--1
American Redstart--4
Black-throated Green Warbler--1
Chipping Sparrow--2
American Goldfinch--3
Canada Warbler--2
Eastern Phoebe--2
Blackpoll Warbler--2
Acadian Flycatcher--1
Black-and-white Warbler--2
Pine Warbler--1
Common Yellowthroat--1
Indigo Bunting--2
Red-eyed Vireo--4
Northern Waterthrush--3
Northern Cardinal--1
Gray Catbird--5
Wood Thrush--1
Eastern (Rufous-sided) Towhee--2*
Eastern Tufted Titmouse--1
Brown-headed Cowbird--1
Eastern Bluebird--9 (nestlings)
Swainson's Thrush--3
Gray-cheeked Thrush--1
American Robin--1

* = At least one Recent Fledgling


Swainson's Thrush
(Distinct buffy eye-ring)

Gray-cheeked Thrush
(Eye-ring absent; face gray)

Chestnut-sided Warbler (female)
(Adult males are somewhat
brighter, with more chestnut)


WEEKLY TOTAL
(15-21 May 2001)
26 species
57 individuals

YEARLY TOTAL
(2001)
62 species
530 individuals
GRAND TOTAL
(since 28 June 1982)
122 species
38,813 individuals


Pine Warbler
(Intensity of yellow varies
greatly among individuals)


NOTABLE RECAPTURES WITH ORIGINAL BANDING DATES:
American Goldfinch (2)
02/07/97
12/05/98
Northern Cardinal (1)
07/31/93
(Ninth-Year M)
Eastern (Rufous-sided) Towhee (1)
07/10/00



Acadian Flycatcher
(A common breeder in the
Carolina Piedmont)
All photos © Hilton Pond Center

Back to Preceding Week; on to Next Week

Up to Top of Page

Back to This Week at
Hilton Pond Center

Current Weather Conditions at Hilton Pond Center

PLEASE SIGN OUR GUESTBOOKHand

You can also
post questions for
The Piedmont Naturalist

Join the

Nature Study Network

Search Engine for
Hilton Pond Center

Made With MacintoshHilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka "The Piedmont Naturalist," it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this website--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this website, contact: WEBMASTER.