The clicking, larvae-eating beetle: Megapenthes lugens

Description An elongated species, 2.8–30mm in length, with a wide body tapering at the end. Uniform black with obvious longitudinal rows of pits running down the length of its wing casings. The legs and antennae are also black. Habitat Lives on the decaying trunks of beech and elm trees. Ecology It is thought that Megapenthes lugens feed on the larvae of other beetles. Pupation occurs in the autumn and the insect subsequently overwinters as an adult inside the pupal case. Upon emergence, the adults are nocturnal and can be found feeding on flowers of various species. The prothorax (the first segment of the thorax) and the mesothorax (the second segment) are freely movable on one another, and the underside of the former bears a pointed, rearward extension which engages and disengages with a cavity in the under-side of the latter. This arrangement constitutes the familiar "clicking mechanism", whereby the beetle clicks and jumps to right itself or as a means of escape. Status Endangered. Distribution Restricted to recently only to Windsor, with older records from Epping forest and the New forest, although there are 19th-century records for Surrey, Norfolk and Middlesex. Isolated records from Gloucestershire and Hampshire. • Name the other species by clicking on the links on the right-hand side or the previous and next buttons at the top of the page