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Click beetle larvae, called wireworms, are usually saprophagous, living on dead organisms, but some species are serious agricultural pests, and others are active predators of other insect larvae. Some elaterid species are bioluminescent in both larval and adult form, such as those of the genus Pyrophorus .
Perhaps the best known species is Zophobas morio, synonymously known as Zophobas atratus, a beetle whose larvae are robust mealworms sold as food for pets [4] such as lizards. The larvae are known commonly as "superworms". [5] Superworms should not be confused with darkling beetle mealworms sprayed with juvenile hormone. [6]
Their bioluminescence is similar to that of another group of beetles, the fireflies, although click beetles do not flash, but remain constantly glowing (though they can control the intensity; for example, they become brighter when touched by a potential predator). Also the larvae and the pupae have light organs and the eggs are luminous too.
These worms are the larva or the larviform female adults of the Phrixothrix beetles. Their most distinctive characteristic is that they possess two colors of bioluminescence, meaning they can ...
Beetles with somewhat flattened, highly mobile larvae include the ground beetles and rove beetles; their larvae are described as campodeiform. Some beetle larvae resemble hardened worms with dark head capsules and minute legs. These are elateriform larvae, and are found in the click beetle (Elateridae) and darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae ...
Tenebrionid beetles occupy ecological niches in mainly deserts and forests as plant scavengers. Most species are generalistic omnivores, and feed on decaying leaves, rotting wood, fresh plant matter, dead insects, and fungi as larvae and adults. [10] Several genera, including Bolitotherus, are specialized fungivores which feed on polypores.
Larvae of the yellow mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) are commonly used as feeder insects for reptiles and amphibians. Other Tenebrio and Tribolium species are also bred as animal food. The red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) is a popular genetics model organism, especially in studies of intragenomic conflict and population ecology.
The larvae of the litter beetle, like certain other larvae of darkling beetles such as mealworms, are used as animal feed, e.g., fed to captive reptiles. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] They have been reported as a good first food for Central American wood turtle ( Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima mannii ) hatchlings, because they are more active than common ...