Common Click Beetle vs Svalbard Rove Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Common Click Beetle Svalbard Rove Beetle
Scientific Name Agriotes sputator Atheta islandica
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Elateridae Staphylinidae
Size 6-8 mm 2-3 mm
Habitat Farmland Heathland
Diet Root Feeders Predators
Regions Europe, Western Asia Iceland, Svalbard, northern Scandinavia, Greenland
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Common Click Beetle

A small, uniformly brown click beetle that is one of the most common wireworm pests in European agriculture. Adults are often found on flowers and grasses in spring and early summer.

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Did You Know?

The clicking mechanism that gives the family its name involves a peg-and-groove structure on the thorax that stores and releases elastic energy.

Svalbard Rove Beetle

A tiny, dark brown rove beetle found in some of the most northerly terrestrial habitats on Earth. It shelters in bird nests and guano deposits where the microclimate is warmer. Adults are active predators of mites.

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Did You Know?

This beetle survives in the High Arctic partly by living in seabird colonies where decomposing guano generates warmth.