What is "click beetle"

Elater \El"a*ter\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? driver, fr. ? to drive.]

1. (Bot.) An elastic spiral filament for dispersing the spores, as in some liverworts.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Any beetle of the family Elaterid[ae], having the habit, when laid on the back, of giving a sudden upward spring, by a quick movement of the articulation between the abdomen and thorax; -- called also click beetle, spring beetle, and snapping beetle.

3. (Zo["o]l.) The caudal spring used by Podura and related insects for leaping. See Collembola.

n. Any of various beetles of the family ''(taxlink Elateridae family noshow=1)'', generally less than 20 mm long, which if turned upside down, flip themselves into the air with a clicking sound.

n. able to right itself when on its back by flipping into the air with a clicking sound [syn: skipjack, snapping beetle]

Insects in the family Elateridae are commonly called click beetles (or "typical click beetles" to distinguish them from the related families Cerophytidae, Eucnemidae, and Plastoceridae). Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, spring beetles or skipjacks. This family was defined by William Elford Leach (1790–1836) in 1815. They are a cosmopolitan beetle family characterized by the unusual click mechanism they possess. There are a few closely related families in which a few members have the same mechanism, but all elaterids can click. A spine on the prosternum can be snapped into a corresponding notch on the mesosternum, producing a violent "click" that can bounce the beetle into the air. Clicking is mainly used to avoid predation, although it is also useful when the beetle is on its back and needs to right itself. There are about 9300 known species worldwide, and 965 valid species in North America.