click beetle

6164   Found this live bug this morning (5:30am) on my bathroom mat, I am location in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.  Legs would tuck in when prodded, then after few seconds get up and move.  Moves pretty quickly.  Size is approx 4mm from tip of head (not antennae) to backend.  The weather is just starting to here to single digits (celcius) in the morning.  I have seen this bug dead before (about 5 of them) in the bedroom near the mattress, and once on the mattress when I was changing the sheets, they were all dead.  Would like to know what this bug is and if I need to take action.  With kind regards,   Amy

This is a click beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae), it appears to be in the genus Aeolus – see https://tinyurl.com/y8lo5jr7 for an example. These simply are accidental intruders that will do no harm.   Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV.