Bug FAQCommon brown click beetle
Athous haemorrhoidalis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Elateridae
Also called: Red-brown Click Beetle
Source: Wikipedia
Adult common brown click beetles are 10 to 15 mm long, black-headed with brown, ribbed wing covers and a dimpled pronotum, and their bodies are covered in grey-brown hairs. They live in forests, wetlands and other moist habitats across the British Isles, Europe and Asia, and the larvae are agricultural pests that feed on grass roots and winter moth larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The head and thorax are black while the wing covers are brown and strongly ribbed. The pronotum is covered with distinct dimples. The whole body has a covering of greyish-brown hairs.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 10 to 15 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found mainly in forests of oak, beech and Scots pine.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults feed on flower pollen. Larvae prey on winter moth larvae and eat the roots of grasses, especially those in the Poaceae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Fossils show the species has been present in Britain since the early Holocene, right after the last ice age.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
In Europe the beetles are most active during July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is common throughout the British Isles. It is widespread across Europe and Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Like other click beetles, they have a flexible hinge between the thorax and abdomen that lets them snap. Males are smaller than females and have a less wavy pronotum edge.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Massachusetts, Washington.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
More photos
Questions people ask
What do the larvae feed on that makes them a pest?
The larvae eat grass roots and prey on winter moth larvae, damaging crops.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I tell this beetle apart from other click beetles?
Look for a black head and thorax, brown ribbed wing covers, a dimpled pronotum and grey-brown body hairs; males are smaller with a smoother pronotum edge.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is this beetle found?
It occurs throughout the British Isles and is widespread across Europe and Asia, living in forests and wetland habitats.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Elateridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athous_haemorrhoidalis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.