Click Beetle

beetles · springy · noisy

Springy snap mechanism. Click beetles have a special spine on their body that clicks into a groove, making a loud snapping sound that bounces them high into the air. This click is so powerful it can launch them up to 50 centimeters (about 20 inches) into the air.

Mystery of the click. Scientists still aren't sure why click beetles have this amazing ability. Some think the noise scares predators, others think it helps them talk to each other, and some believe it helps them escape from the ground when they're turning into adults.

Bugs all over the world. Click beetles live on every continent and come in about 9,300 different species. In North America alone, there are nearly 1,000 different types of click beetles.

Playing tricks. When a click beetle is on its back or trapped, it doesn't rely on its famous jump as its main escape plan. Instead, it usually plays dead or just crawls away normally.

Named after their power. These beetles have lots of nicknames like snapping beetles, spring beetles, and skipjacks, all because of their incredible clicking and jumping ability that William Leach described way back in 1815.