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Beetles
Beetles are insects, and their group name is coleoptera (say collie-op-terra). This group is largest in the whole animal kingdom. There are about 350,000 different kinds of beetles that we know about. There are probably many unnamed beetles that we don’t yet know about.
The word coleoptera comes from the Greek words ‘koleos’ meaning sheath or shield, and ‘ptera’ (say terra), meaning wings. This is because most bee Beetles can be found in almost every place on earth in many habitats.
Beetles usually have two pairs of wings: hard front wings, and soft back wings which are used for flying. The back wings fold under the hard front wings when not in use.
Beetles can be found in almost every place on earth in many habitats.
Being insects, all beetles have six legs. However, in different beetles these have different shapes according to their use: swimming, digging, jumping, grasping or running. Some kinds of beetles have sharp spines on their legs for defence.
Most beetles are plant eaters.
Some beetles, like the ladybird, are useful to humans. Some are considered to be pests because of the damage they can do to crops or food.
Beetle Life Cycle
A beetle moves through different stages in its life: egg, larva, pupa and adult.
Eggs hatch and a larva comes out of each one. As the larva grows it will molt several times. This means its skin splits and falls off, and underneath the larva has a new, bigger skin. The larva forms a pupa, and during this stage it will change completely and will emerge as an adult beetle. Different beetles have different ways of changing in these stages.
A Ladybird larva
Find out about some different kinds of beetle:
http://www.bugbios.com/entophiles/coleoptera/index.html Select a photograph of a photograph of a particular beetle to find out about it.
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/coleoptera/
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegallery/lady/
This image is used by permission under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Fotograf: Mario Sarto (Masa)
Go here for photos of some different kinds of beetle:
http://www.living-jewels.com/photo.htm
Updated July 2006