Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Click beetle

Click beetles are a long thin oval shape. The body is dark brown with lined pattern along the back. The antennae are serrated. When threatened they are overturned, click beetles can flick themselves into the air with a clicking sound. The beetle does this by flexing the joint between sections of the thorax where there is a peg on one side of the joint and a groove on the other. The peg snaps into the groove catapulting the insect into the air. If it does not land the right way up it repeats the click until it does. The click can make it jump 15-30cm into the air.