Chequered click beetle

Prosternon tessellatum · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Elateridae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Chequered click beetle
Photo: Line Sabroe, CC BY

The chequered click beetle grows to about 10 to 12 mm long and shows a blackish-brown, hairy pronotum with striped elytra that have pale, silky-goldish markings. It lives in mountainous and forested areas across Europe, Asia and the Nearctic, and can also be found in heathland, dunes and gardens.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

They have a hairy blackish-brown pronotum and striped wing covers with pale, silky-goldish stains.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Body length is about 10 to 12 mm (0.39 to 0.47 in).

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in mountain areas, coniferous forests, dry forest edges, forest meadows, heathland, moors, dunes and gardens.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Adults feed on flowers, shrubs and low vegetation from May to early August. Larvae live in conifer stumps and humus, preying on pine-tree lappet and pine sawfly cocoons.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Larvae develop in conifer stumps and humus, acting as predators of pine-tree lappet and pine sawfly cocoons.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Adults are present from May to early August.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Widespread in Europe, Asia and the Nearctic realm.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

They resemble the smaller Agrypnus murinus.

Source: Wikipedia

Questions people ask

How can I tell a chequered click beetle apart from similar beetles?

Look for a 10 to 12 mm beetle with a hairy blackish-brown pronotum, striped elytra and pale silky-goldish spots; the similar Agrypnus murinus is smaller.

Source: Wikipedia

When are adult chequered click beetles active?

Adults are active from May through early August, feeding on flowers and low vegetation.

Source: Wikipedia

What habitats do chequered click beetles prefer?

They live in mountain and forest areas, including coniferous woods, forest edges, meadows, heathland, dunes and gardens.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Elateridae)

Eastern Eyed Click BeetleEastern Eyed Click BeetleAlaus oculatusMottled dingy-brown click beetleMottled dingy-brown click beetleAgrypnus murinusDamages trees, gardens or cropsCommon brown click beetleCommon brown click beetleAthous haemorrhoidalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsBordered click beetleBordered click beetleDenticollis linearis

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosternon_tessellatum

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.