The general anatomy of a beetle is quite uniform and typical of insects, although there are several examples of novelty, such as adaptations in water beetles which trap air bubbles under the elytra for use while diving. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ladybugs) eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.īeetles typically have a particularly hard exoskeleton including the elytra, though some such as the rove beetles have very short elytra while blister beetles have softer elytra. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 to 2.1 million total species.
Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. Clockwise from top left: female golden stag beetle ( Lamprima aurata), rhinoceros beetle ( Megasoma sp.), long nose weevil ( Rhinotia hemistictus), cowboy beetle ( Chondropyga dorsalis), and a species of Amblytelusīeetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera ( / k oʊ l iː ˈ ɒ p t ər ə/), in the superorder Endopterygota.
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