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Macroinvertebrates
Coleoptera Linnaeus, 1758
EOL Text
The heaviest insects in the world are beetles. There are some African and South American beetles that are as big as your fist!
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Coleoptera/ |
Order Coleoptera has the most insect species. Beetles can be found throughout the world and can vary from a millimeter to 75 millimeters in length. They have an open circulatory system that uses fluid instead of blood. Most beetles have two pairs of wings, one pair is hardened and the other pair is membranous. Their antennae are mostly used for their sense of smell. They have spiracles, which are breathing holes on their abdomen. Most beetles feed on plants, but other species are predaceous. Some species are aquatic and have a hard exoskeleton. Some species are sexually dimorphic. This can be seen when males have horns on their head. Most beetles undergo complete metamorphosis. They go through several stages from: the egg, the grub, the pupa, and the adult (also known as an imago). Most beetles have a gland that produces pheromones to attract a mate. Beetles can be found in the fossil record as far back as the Lower Permian. People release beetles to control common pests, for instance, ladybugs are released into gardens to control aphid populations.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Rhianna Hruska, Rhianna Hruska |
Source | No source database. |
Beetles are the most diverse group of insects. There are over 300,000 species known to science, and probably many tens of thousands more still unknown. Beetles are found on land and in fresh water all over the world.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Introduced , Native ); palearctic (Introduced , Native ); oriental (Introduced , Native ); ethiopian (Introduced , Native ); neotropical (Introduced , Native ); australian (Introduced , Native ); oceanic islands (Introduced , Native )
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Coleoptera/ |
Wings are deployable: beetles
The wings of beetles are folded and stored under fore-wings and deploy for flight thanks to sprung wing joints.
"Beetles use their fore-wings for a different purpose altogether. These creatures are the heavy armoured tanks of the insect world and they spend a great deal of their time on the ground, barging their way through the vegetable litter, scrabbling in the soil or gnawing into wood. Such activities could easily damage delicate wings. The beetles protect theirs by turning the front pair into stiff thick covers which fit neatly over the top of the abdomen. The wings are stowed neatly beneath, carefully and ingeniously folded. The wing veins have sprung joints in them. When the wing covers are lifted, the joints unlock and the wings spring open. As the beetle lumbers into the air, the stiff wing covers are usually held out to the side, a posture that inevitably hampers efficient flight. Flower beetles, however, have managed to deal with this problem. They have notches at the sides of the wing covers near the hinges so that the covers can be replaced over the abdomen leaving the wings extended and beating." (Attenborough 1979:79)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Attenborough, D. 1979. Life on earth. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company. 319 p.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/92a1446666700b69fe2ec61681d9eac6 |
Beetles are like all insects, they have a head, thorax, and abdomen, and six legs. Their bodies tend to be very solid and tough. They have chewing mouthparts and often have powerful jaws. Adult beetles have modified wings: the first pair of wings is small and very hard, and acts as a protective covering for the second pair of wings. Many beetles can fly with their second pair of wings. Most adult beetles are brown or black, but some are very brightly colored. Beetle larvae look sort of like worms, but they have six legs and a hard head. Beetle pupa can't move and are covered with a leathery skin.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry ; polymorphic ; poisonous
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; female larger; male larger; sexes colored or patterned differently; sexes shaped differently; ornamentation
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Coleoptera/ |
Insect elytra resist shear and cracking: beetles
Elytra of beetles maintain integrity of their two layers by transforming forces through connecting bio-nails.
"Nature is replete with examples of layered-structure materials that are evolved through billions of years to provide high performance. Insect elytra (a portion of the exoskeleton) have evoked worldwide research attention and are believed to serve as fuselages and wings of natural aircraft. This work focuses on the relationship between structure, mechanical behavior, and failure mechanisms of the elytra. We report a failure-mode-optimization (FMO) mechanism that can explain elytra's mechanical behaviors. We show initial evidence that this mechanism makes bio-structures of low-strength materials strong and ductile that can effectively resist shear forces and crack growth. A bio-inspired design of a joint by using the FMO mechanism has been proved by experiments to have a potential to increase the interface shear strength as high as about 2.5 times. The FMO mechanism, which is based on the new concept of property-structure synergetic coupling proposed in this work, offer some thoughts to deal with the notoriously difficult problem of interface strength and to reduce catastrophic failure events." (Fan et al. 2005:229)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Fan, J.; Chen, B.; Gao, Z.; Xiang, C. 2005. Mechanisms in Failure Prevention of Bio-Materials and Bio-Structures. Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures. 12(3): 229-237.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/956f117536619d48644d2675d10a253e |
The aim of this site is to show the world the beauty and diversity of coleoptera, whilst being accessible to new comers intrigued by their beauty and array, to amateurs who are keen to learn more, and for professionals alike.
At the time of reading this site has over 6000 species which have all been classified, plus 2000 macrophotos which are constantly upgraded and will give you a new facility for identifying and classifying beetles.
License | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Philippe Lacroix, Philippe Lacroix |
Source | http://www.coleoptera-atlas.com |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:266387
Specimens with Sequences:185566
Specimens with Barcodes:156488
Species:24872
Species With Barcodes:20401
Public Records:154468
Public Species:10231
Public BINs:27335
Beetles are found in just about every habitat. Most species live on plants, others tunnel or burrow, some swim.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; polar ; terrestrial ; freshwater
Terrestrial Biomes: tundra ; taiga ; desert or dune ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains
Aquatic Biomes: lakes and ponds; rivers and streams
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp ; bog
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Coleoptera/ |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Specimens with Barcodes: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1