Arctic Click Beetle vs Water Veneer Moth

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Arctic Click Beetle Water Veneer Moth
Scientific Name Hypnoidus riparius Acentria ephemerella
Order Coleoptera Lepidoptera
Family Elateridae Crambidae
Size 4-7 mm 10-14 mm wingspan (males)
Habitat Tundra & Arctic Ponds & Lakes
Diet Herbivores Herbivores
Regions Scandinavia, Iceland, Scotland, northern Russia, Arctic Canada Europe, North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Arctic Click Beetle

A small, brown click beetle with a distinctive snapping mechanism that allows it to flip itself upright when overturned. Larvae are wireworms that live in tundra soil. Adults are found under stones and in low vegetation.

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Did You Know?

When flipped on its back, this beetle arches its body and snaps a spine on its thorax into a groove, launching itself into the air with an audible click.

Water Veneer Moth

A unique aquatic moth whose larvae live entirely underwater in freshwater lakes. Females are often wingless and spend their whole lives below the water surface.

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Did You Know?

Wingless females mate underwater and never leave the lake where they were born.