Madagascar.
Fine-art photographic collection
Neoabiphis insignis
A Madagascan click beetle carrying a spring-loaded catapult inside its thorax.
About this species
Madagascan click beetle
Neoabiphis insignis(Klug, 1833)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Neoabiphis insignis is a Madagascan agrypnine click beetle. Its elongated body contains the mechanical latch-and-spring system that allows an overturned beetle to launch itself clear of the ground.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Elateridae · Agrypninae · Neoabiphis
Accepted as Neoabiphis insignis; gallery title uses the former combination · checked 2026-07-15
MadagascarKnown from Madagascar — broad island-level distribution, not a complete occurrence map.
Species-specific habitat information was not located in the cited taxonomic sources.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
A rigid prosternal spine locks into a cavity beneath the thorax, stores elastic strain and releases it as a click powerful enough to throw the body upward.
The jump works without leg contact, so the beetle can right itself from a smooth surface where pushing with the feet would be impossible.
Prominent rear corners of the pronotum help brace and align the thoracic mechanism, making the beetle's pointed outline part of the catapult system.