Click Beetle

Diversity and Distribution: There are nearly 10,000 species worldwide. However, only 61 species are formally reported from Costa Rica. Ten (10) of these species are apparently endemic to Costa Rica, in that they are only known from their type localities, and seven (7) of these species were described from Volcan de Irazu. Another 218 described species are known, but not recorded, or are predicted to occur in Costa Rica based on their occurrences in Nicaragua and Panama. No fewer than 25 undescribed species are known from recent limited sampling. Recorded species represent 33 genera, with unrecorded or predicted species representing an additional 36 genera. From the latter group, two additional subfamilies and at least six additional tribes may be added to the Costa Rica elaterid fauna. Predictively, the Costa Rican click beetle fauna could reach 350 or more species, representing at least 7 subfamilies, 19 tribes, and 72 genera, following appropriate study.

Click beetles are found throughout Central America and are found in all but aquatic and the highest montane habitats. Forest, savanna, and ecotonal areas harbor the greatest local diversities of these beetles. Historically, most Costa Rican specimen records are from the Pacific slope mid-elevational mesic forests, cloudforests, or the northwestern dry forests. Relatively few samples are from southern Pacific or Caribbean slope regions, or lowland coastal areas of either coast. However, it is these latter regions that produced the majority of new records and undescribed species in recent sampling efforts. The Pacific slope and Caribbean slope elaterid faunas appear significantly different at all taxonomic levels and species associations seem to correlate with mid scale biogeographic patterns, such as vegetation communities.