Concept
Beetle
Overview
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described arthropods and 25% of all known animal species; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species.
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. 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. Some others also have unusual characteristics, such as fireflies, which use a light-emitting organ for mating and communication purposes.
Beetles 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. 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. Beetles are holometabolans, which means that they undergo complete metamorphosis, with a series of conspicuous and relatively abrupt changes in body structure between hatching and becoming adult after a relatively immobile pupal stage. Some, such as stag beetles, have a marked sexual dimorphism, the males possessing enormously enlarged mandibles which they use to fight other males. Many beetles are aposematic, with bright colors and patterns warning of their toxicity, while others are harmless Batesian mimics of such insects. Many beetles, including those that live in sandy places, have effective camouflage.
Beetles are prominent in human culture, from the sacred scarabs of ancient Egypt to beetlewing art and use as pets or fighting insects for entertainment and gambling. Many beetle groups are brightly and attractively colored making them objects of collection and decorative displays. Over 300 species are used as food, mostly as larvae; species widely consumed include mealworms and rhinoceros beetle larvae. However, the major impact of beetles on human life is as agricultural, forestry, and horticultural pests. Serious pest species include the boll weevil of cotton, the Colorado potato beetle, the coconut hispine beetle, the mountain pine beetle, and many others. Most beetles, however, do not cause economic damage and some, such as numerous species of lady beetles, are beneficial by helping to control insect pests. The scientific study of beetles is known as coleopterology.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Beetle is discussed.
Many beetles are coloured so as to resemble the surfaces which they habitually frequent, and they thus escape detection by their enemies. Other species, for instance diamond-beetles, are ornamented with splendid colours, which are often arranged in stripes, spots, crosses, and other elegant patterns. Such colours can hardly serve directly as a protection, except in the case of certain flower-feeding species; but…
Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
names the idea; a chapter is titled for it; opens on it
I am surprised what an indelible impression many of the beetles which I caught at Cambridge have left on my mind. I can remember the exact appearance of certain posts, old trees and banks where I made a good capture. The pretty Panagaeus crux-major was a treasure in those days, and here at Down I saw a beetle running across a walk, and on picking it up instantly perceived that it differed slightly from P.
Charles Darwin, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin
names the idea; opens on it
It is called clerus, or by some persons pyraustes. This creature produces a spider-like animal like itself, which causes sickness in the hive, and another creature like the moth, which flies round the candle. This produces a creature filled with a woolly substance. It is not killed by the bees, and is only driven out by smoking it. A kind of caterpillar also, which is called teredo, is produced in the hives. The…
Aristotle, Aristotle's History of Animals In Ten Books
states what it is; author linked in the graph
An animal found in fire—the pyrallis, or pyrausta 42 43. The animal called hemerobion _ib._ 44. The nature and characteristics of all animals considered limb by limb. Those which have tufts and crests 43 45. The various kinds of horns. Animals in which they are moveable 44 46. The heads of animals. Those which have none 46 47. The hair _ib._ 48. The bones of the head 47 49. The brain _ib._ 50. The ears. Animals…
the Elder Pliny, The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3
names the idea; opens on it
Another very common sort, which they call _Toads_, because black, but I think differs nothing from our black Frog. They have Toads also like ours in _England_; and another small sort of Frog, which makes a noise like Pack-horse Bells all the Spring long. Another little green Frog, that will leap prodigiously, which they therefore call the Flying Frog. There is frequently heard in the Woods a shrill sort of noise…
Royal Society, Miscellanea Curiosa, Vol. 3
names the idea
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Place in the tradition
Part of Analytic philosophy.