{"id":13971,"date":"2016-09-02T07:02:26","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T13:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=13971"},"modified":"2016-09-02T09:34:06","modified_gmt":"2016-09-02T15:34:06","slug":"bugbytes-click-beetle-has-a-move-worthy-of-the-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2016\/09\/bugbytes-click-beetle-has-a-move-worthy-of-the-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"BugBytes: Click beetle has a move worthy of the Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Thorax\"<\/a>

Marian Lyman Kirst<\/p>

Click beetles are unique among beetles in their ability to flex at the union that joins the insects’ prothorax and mesothorax. Other beetles are stiff by comparison, their thoracic unions allowing for only minor movement.<\/p><\/div>\n

And \u2026 the Olympics is over. Whew.<\/p>\n

I have to admit, I\u2019ve never been a huge fan of the Games. Of all the events, though, the gymnastics portion has always held a certain fascination for me. It\u2019s largely wistful. I used to do gymnastics, you see.<\/p>\n

And, wow, was I terrible.<\/p>\n

Case in point: my best apparatus was the practice pit.<\/p>\n

For real gymnasts the practice pit is just a foam-block-filled cement pool, into which one artfully lands after vaulting out a double back-handspring, twisted Yurchenko with lime, or some nonsense. For me, it was where I dominated my 9-year-old classmates in foam pit hide-and-seek, a game in which kids squirreled to the pit\u2019s cushioned depths to hide from a designated seeker tasked with tagging them \u201cout.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Print\"<\/a>I freaking ruled that game. I could squirm my way to the pit\u2019s bottom so quickly and stay there so long that\u2014on more than one occasion\u2014I would emerge, flecked with foam and smugly triumphant, to find the game long-since ended, its players packing to leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all got tired of trying to find you, stupid,\u201d a classmate explained.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the sport\u2019s other (actual) apparatuses proved either too terrifying or too tall\u2014and I too weak and filled with Pringles and Pop-Tarts\u2014to successfully tackle.<\/p>\n

Indeed, my gymnastics career came to an abrupt and undignified end when, after watching me struggle (yet again) to pull myself onto the lowest of the parallel bars, a fed-up classmate said, \u201cMaybe you\u2019re just too heavy for gymnastics?\u201d<\/p>\n

Breathless and red-faced, I considered this, decided she was right, pushed her, suggested maybe she was too heavy for gymnastics (and also, \u201clike, super mean!\u201d), and we both quit on the spot.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve always had a fondness for the sport and, during this summer\u2019s Games, for Simone Biles in particular.<\/p>\n

\"CapreAir_Variable\"<\/a><\/div><\/div>Biles\u2019 furious, muscle-fueled floor routines are a joy to watch, not least because her signature move, \u201cThe Biles,\u201d reminds me of the escape maneuver of one of my favorite coleopterans: the click beetle.<\/p>\n

Click beetles belong to the coleopteran family Elateridae and are also sometimes called skipjacks, snapping beetles or jackknife beetles.<\/p>\n

Their colorful monikers are inspired by the beetle\u2019s ability to flip through the air when provoked<\/a>. The physics of this action, like those powering \u201cThe Biles,\u201d is intense and somewhat counterintuitive.<\/p>\n

To \u201cperfect 10\u201d the hell out of her signature move<\/a>, Biles has to double-flip in a \u201clayout\u201d position, half-twist her outstretched body, and then stick a blind landing.<\/p>\n

Click beetles achieve their gymnastic getaway by arching their backs and then quickly bending forward (at the \u201cwaist\u201d), which snaps a stiff spine on the beetle\u2019s \u201cchest\u201d (or pro-sternum) into a corresponding groove on its upper belly (or mesosternum). The force of this insertion vaults the beetle, with a loud \u201cclick,\u201d into the air and, ideally, out of harm\u2019s way\u2014the beak of a hungry bird or the filthy mitts of a grabby entomologist, for example.<\/p>\n

\"Elley\"<\/a>

Elley Swan<\/p>

“Out on a limb” by BugBytes Illustrator Elley Swan: a beautiful interpretation of Marian’s first encounter with an eyed elater in Montana.<\/p><\/div>\n

The audible \u201cclick\u201d associated with the beetle\u2019s tumbling talents may also have\u2014if you\u2019ll allow me to stick with sports metaphors here\u2014a Venus Williams grunt-type effect: A loud, sudden sound that effectively startles the enemy into a miscalculation.<\/p>\n

The beetles also use the click trick to right themselves should they wind up on their backs. Thus, gently turning a suspected click beetle onto its dorsum is a fun way to determine if your ID is correct.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lucky, the overturned beetle will immediately click-and-flip itself back onto its feet. If the bug gods have spurned you, however, the beetle may decide to conserve its energy and play dead (a process known as \u201cthanatosis\u201d in animal behavior), instead. In this case, the click beetle will pull its legs into its body and tightly tuck its head and antennae beneath its chest.<\/p>\n

Click beetles can maintain this morbid pretense for a frustratingly long time, as many a bug nerd, who\u2019s ever tried to impress her friends with click beetle gymnastics, well knows:<\/p>\n

\u201cI swear, it\u2019s gonna click any second, just wait. Any time now\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure it\u2019s not just dead?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it looks dead, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know! It\u2019s faking, damn it!\u201d (Come on, Mr. beetle. Help a lady out<\/em>!)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is taking forever. You suck, Marian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sigh<\/em>. \u201cI know\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyway, adult click beetles are fairly easy to recognize: their bodies are long, narrow and vaguely flattened. Many have serrated antennae and a thoracic shield that ends in sharp, slightly flared corners. They are most often found under or on bark and on vegetation, where they feed on pollen, nectar, fruit and fungi.<\/p>\n

The larvae are called \u201cwireworms\u201d and can be found in soil, decaying vegetation and rotting wood. Some are economically important pests that can seriously damage crops by feeding on plant roots and seeds<\/a>. Most wireworms, though, are beneficial predators of wood-boring beetles.<\/p>\n

Click beetles range markedly in size, from just a few millimeters long to over two inches in length. And while the majority of Montana\u2019s click beetles are blackish-brown, some are brightly colored, metallic, or dramatically \u201ceyed.”<\/p>\n

\"Elater\"<\/a>

Marian Lyman Kirst<\/p>

This handsome specimen was found last July near Norm’s Island, just south of Billings. The eyed elater’s distinctive white mottling resembles fur or fuzz but actually consists of clusters of tiny scales, and is often particularly pronounced around the beetle’s eyespots.<\/p><\/div>\n

Indeed, my all-time favorite click beetles are the eyed elaters (genus Alaus<\/em>), a group of nearly 2-inch-long, black and white-mottled insects that boast large, matte-black, dorsal eyespots, just behind the head.<\/p>\n

It is thought that these \u201cfalse eyes\u201d like those found on the wings of some butterflies and moths, help protect the beetles by frightening or confusing potential predators, at least for a second, allowing the beetle a window of time in which to escape.<\/p>\n

I found an eyed elater for the first time in Montana last July near Norm\u2019s Island. The beetle was perched atop a twig of buffaloberry. It was caked with mud, suggesting it had only recently emerged from the subterranean chamber in which it had pupated as a larva.<\/p>\n

The bug gods smiled upon me that day, my friends, as eyed elaters are not terribly common. So if you find one this fall, count yourself king or queen of the beetles, take a picture, and give the click trick a try (just leave \u201cThe Biles\u201d to the professionals).<\/p>\n

The Nitty Gritty<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Common Names<\/strong>: click beetle, skipjack, snapping beetle, jackknife beetle<\/em><\/p>\n

Order<\/strong>: Coleoptera<\/em><\/p>\n

Family<\/strong>: Elateridae<\/em><\/p>\n

Where to find<\/strong>: During the day, look for adults under bark and on vegetation during late spring through early fall. Some click beetles are strongly attracted to lights at night and I\u2019ve often found them under my lighted patio after 10 p.m. during the summer. Eyed click beetles in our area are probably most likely to be found on and under bark or on vegetation near logs or felled trees. In the Beartooth foothills and surrounding meadows, I often find small click beetles clinging to grass blades.<\/em><\/p>\n

When to find<\/strong>: Adults are most commonly found during the day from spring through late summer but some overwinter under bark and so can be found year-round.<\/em>
\n\"Marian<\/a>M.L. Kirst is a Billings-based, bug-obsessed freelance writer and photographer with a background in environmental studies and science journalism, and she is currently working on a degree in entomology. Her work tends to focus on natural history and wildlife conservation. But her prime directive is to blend art, science and writing in a way that inspires others to celebrate the beauty, ingenuity, and diversity of insects, spiders and their kin.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And \u2026 the Olympics is over. Whew. I have to admit, I\u2019ve never been a huge fan of the Games. Of all the events, though, the gymnastics portion has always held a certain fascination for me. It\u2019s largely wistful. I used to do gymnastics, you see. And, wow, was I terrible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":13973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[4910,1379,4549,4911],"class_list":["post-13971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diversions","tag-eyed-elater","tag-norms-island","tag-olympics","tag-simone-biles","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}