My friend Jonathan found this bug right outside his front door and he asked me to identify it. Turns out it is an Eastern Eyed Click Beetle. They are pretty common in this area and all across Eastern and Central North America. Adults eat plant juice and nectar, while the larvae are predatory and dine on grubs found in soil and decaying wood.
They receive their name for the clicking sound they make when they flip themselves over. And of course for the eerie false eyes on the top of their heads. Those are my favorite part!
Jonathan says, "It looks like a beetle with the head of a catfish." Well put. They are pretty strange looking. But isn't it great!?
Very cool!
ReplyDelete...cool. Thank you for posting. I saw one of these guys on a bridge on the Little Miami Trail and wondered what he was. Now I know. Those false eyes are crazy...
ReplyDeleteThanks to both of you! I have seen these before and really wanted to identify them. I like to pretend the false eyes are real and creep myself out. :)
ReplyDeletegahhh!! :^)
ReplyDeletehe is so right!
found one on a tomato plant . AWESOME! Weird looking.
ReplyDeleteOne literally fell off a tree into my shirt..... My intro to this bug. :)
ReplyDelete