Click Beetle vs Green Sedge

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Click Beetle Green Sedge
Scientific Name Alaus oculatus Rhyacophila dorsalis
Order Coleoptera Trichoptera
Family Elateridae Rhyacophilidae
Size 25-45 mm 10-14 mm
Habitat Underground Rivers & Streams
Diet Predators Predators
Regions North America Europe, Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Click Beetle

Has a special mechanism that allows it to snap its body with a click, launching itself up to 30 cm into the air. The large eyespots on its thorax startle predators.

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Did You Know?

Click beetles launch themselves into the air without using their legs — they use a peg-and-groove mechanism on their thorax that releases like a spring, reaching accelerations of 400g.

Green Sedge

A free-living caddisfly larva that does not build a case, instead roaming the streambed as an active predator. Adults have greenish wings.

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Did You Know?

Unlike most caddisflies, green sedge larvae are caseless predators that hunt like underwater wolves among the stream cobbles.