Identification

• The worms can grow to 2 inches long, are yellow or brown and have thick skin and jointed bodies. Mature click beetles are brown or black and are 1/3 to 1 inch long. They are called click beetles because of the loud clicking sound they make when they flip over.
  
  

Considerations

• According to the Rutgers University Extension website, both wireworms and adult click beetles can overwinter in the garden, emerging in late spring to lay their eggs in damp soil.
  
  

Affected Crops

• Crops most affected by wireworms include all the root crops such as potatoes, carrots, radishes and turnips, young corn plants, strawberries and tomato plant stems. Wireworms also feed on flowers, including asters, phlox, gladioli and dahlias, according to Rutgers University.
  
  

Control

• Wireworms can be lured and trapped by planting bait vegetables, such as carrots or discarded potatoes, in the soil. Rutgers advises digging up the bait vegetables every three to five days and destroying the worms attached to them. Good soil drainage is also a good deterrent.