Parallelostethus attenuatus

{{Short description|Species of beetle}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Parallelostethus attenuatus.jpg

| taxon = Parallelostethus attenuatus

| authority = (Say, 1825)

}}

Parallelostethus attenuatus is a species of click beetle in the family Elateridae.{{Cite web |title=Parallelostethus attenuatus (Say, 1825) |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/6973088 |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=GBIF |language=en}}

1,8-Octanediol di-hexanoate strongly attracts adult male P. attenuatus beetles, and the sex attractant pheromone of the species may consist entirely of this compound.{{Cite journal |last=Millar |first=Jocelyn G. |last2=Williams |first2=Livy |last3=Serrano |first3=Jacqueline M. |last4=Halloran |first4=Sean |last5=Grommes |first5=Anna C. |last6=Huseth |first6=Anders S. |last7=Kuhar |first7=Thomas P. |last8=Hanks |first8=Lawrence M. |date=August 2022 |title=A Symmetrical Diester as the Sex Attractant Pheromone of the North American Click Beetle Parallelostethus attenuatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Elateridae) |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35397045/ |journal=Journal of Chemical Ecology |volume=48 |issue=7-8 |pages=598–608 |doi=10.1007/s10886-022-01360-8 |issn=1573-1561 |pmid=35397045|hdl=10919/109769 |hdl-access=free }}

The morphology of the "hinges" P. attenuatus uses to "click" have been studied in detail.{{Cite journal |last=Bolmin |first=Ophelia |last2=Wei |first2=Lihua |last3=Hazel |first3=Alexander M. |last4=Dunn |first4=Alison C. |last5=Wissa |first5=Aimy |last6=Alleyne |first6=Marianne |date=2019-06-17 |title=Latching of the click beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) thoracic hinge enabled by the morphology and mechanics of conformal structures |url=https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/222/12/jeb196683/20388/Latching-of-the-click-beetle-Coleoptera-Elateridae |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=222 |issue=12 |pages=jeb196683 |doi=10.1242/jeb.196683 |issn=0022-0949|url-access=subscription }}

In Indiana, it is commonly found in rotten logs, eating decaying moist wood tissue.{{Cite journal |last=Kirk |first=Harry |date=1922 |title=Biological Notes on Elateridae and Melasidae (Col..) |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/21932 |journal=Entomological news, and proceedings of the Entomological Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=33 |pages=236––240}} Elateridae in general are common in wood in Indiana.{{Cite book |last=Blatchley |first=W. S. (Willis Stanley) |url=https://archive.org/details/oncoleopteraknow00blat/page/698/mode/2up |title=On the Coleoptera known to occur in Indiana |date=1910 |publisher=Indianapolis, W.B. Burford, contractor for state printing |others=Smithsonian Libraries}}