{"id":6700,"date":"2026-06-18T15:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/?p=6700"},"modified":"2026-08-19T19:43:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:43:25","slug":"2026-06-small-click-beetle-harmless-larvae-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/posts\/2026-06-small-click-beetle-harmless-larvae-en\/","title":{"rendered":"One species, many shades: Summer encounters with the click beetle\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meet <em>Athous subfuscus<\/em>, a diminutive member of the click beetles family (<em>Elateridae<\/em>) and the genus <em>Athous<\/em>\u2014one of the largest groups of click beetles, boasting over a hundred species worldwide. These tiny woodland dwellers measure just 8 to 10 millimeters and spend their adult lives lounging on low-lying wildflowers, mossy patches, or the low branches of oak and willow trees. They lay their eggs directly in the soil, where their larvae\u2014famously known as &#8220;wireworms&#8221;\u2014spend their entire youth in the damp leaf litter. Unlike some of their notorious agricultural-pest cousins, the larvae of <em>Athous subfuscus<\/em> leave living plant roots alone, acting as harmless, essential recyclers of the forest floor. I crossed paths with this cute little beetle during a bicycle touring trip in the summer of 2026. Throughout the journey, I spotted representatives of this species on numerous occasions. Their colors varied so drastically\u2014ranging from pale yellowish-brown to deep brown or nearly black\u2014that I initially thought I was looking at completely different species. As it turns out, these color variations are often linked to their age, shifting gradually after they emerge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet Athous subfuscus, a diminutive member of the click beetles family (Elateridae) and the genus Athous\u2014one of the largest groups [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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