The status of Elateridae (Coleoptera) in India

Abstract

Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Endopterygota. It is estimated that a quarter of all described species in the world belongs to this order. The family Elateridae or click beetles is the ninth-largest family under this order. Wireworms are the larval stage of this family and they play a role in the ecosystem as they are omnivorous and act as pests. There are over 800 species of elaterids recorded from the Indian Subcontinent under eight subfamilies. India is rich in floral and faunal diversity and insect diversity in particular constitute about 6% of all identified insects in the world with a large number being endemic species. But in contrast to its extreme species richness, there is comparatively very little knowledge about this family of beetles when compared to other families. And as such, there is still a lot of potential to study its ecology and diversity. It is also because of this same reason that review of the status of the elaterid family is being done as a prequel to the actual field study.