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 insects 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 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.
Lytta vesicatoria, also known as the Spanish fly, is an aposematic emerald-green beetle in the blister beetle family (Meloidae). It is distributed across Eurasia.
The pileated woodpecker is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific Coast. It is the largest confirmed extant woodpecker species in North America, with the possible exception of the ivory-billed woodpecker, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed be reclassified as extinct. It is also the third largest species of woodpecker in the world, after the great slaty woodpecker and the black woodpecker. "Pileated" refers to the bird's prominent red crest, from the Latin pileatus meaning "capped".
The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the red coats of early British soldiers, hence the common name. They are also known commonly as leatherwings because of their soft elytra.
Harmonia axyridis is a large lady beetle or ladybug species that is most commonly known as the harlequin, Asian, or multicoloured Asian lady beetle. This is one of the most variable species in the world, with an exceptionally wide range of colour forms. It is native to eastern Asia, but has been artificially introduced to North America and Europe to control aphids and scale insects. It is now common, well known, and spreading in those regions, and has also established in Africa and widely across South America. This species is conspicuous in North America, where it may locally be known as the Halloween beetle, as it often invades homes during October to overwinter.
Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle.
The blue poison dart frog or blue poison arrow frog is a poison dart frog found in the "forest islands" surrounded by the Sipaliwini Savanna in southern Suriname and northern Pará (Brazil). Its indigenous Tirio name is okopipi. The name "azureus" comes from its azure blue color. While first described as a valid species and usually recognized as such in the past, recent authorities generally treat it as a morph of D. tinctorius, although a few treat it as a subspecies of D. tinctorius or continue to treat it as its own species. To what extent it differs from the blue D. tinctorius in southern Guyana, adjacent Pará (Brazil) and possibly far southwestern Suriname, is also a matter of dispute, and many herpetologists, as well as many people keeping poison dart frogs in captivity, have not distinguished these, with all commonly being identified as azureus.
Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family (Scarabaeidae). Other common names – some for particular groups of rhinoceros beetles – include Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles. Over 1,500 species and 225 genera of rhinoceros beetles are known.
Nicrophorus americanus, also known as the American burying beetle or giant carrion beetle, is a critically endangered species of beetle endemic to North America. It belongs to the order Coleoptera and the family Silphidae. The carrion beetle in North America is carnivorous, feeds on carrion and requires carrion to breed. It is also a member of one of the few genera of beetle to exhibit parental care. The decline of the American burying beetle has been attributed to habitat loss, alteration, and degradation, and they now occur in less than 10% of their historic range.
Formica fusca is a black-colored ant commonly found throughout Europe as well as parts of southern Asia and Africa. It has the common names silky ant or dusky ant. The range within the palaearctic region extends from Portugal in the west to Japan in the east and from Italy in the south to Fennoscandia in the north. Populations from North America have been split off as a separate species, Formica subaenescens. F. fusca nests are usually found in rotten tree stumps or under stones in clearcut areas and along woodland borders and hedgerows. The species also often occurs in urban areas, feeding on honeydew secreted by the aphids found on weeds.
Cheddar Wood is an 86.9-hectare (215-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England, notified in 1967.
Rhagonycha fulva, the common red soldier beetle, also misleadingly known as the bloodsucker beetle, and popularly known in England as the hogweed bonking beetle is a species of soldier beetle (Cantharidae).
Cantharis is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra.
Coccinellidae is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles to avoid confusion with true bugs. The more than 6,000 described species have a global distribution and are found in a variety of habitats. They are oval beetles with a domed back and flat underside. Many of the species have conspicuous aposematic (warning) colours and patterns, such as red with black spots, that warn potential predators that they taste bad.
Anthrenus (Anthrenus) scrophulariae, also known as the common carpet beetle or buffalo carpet beetle, is a species of beetle originally found in Europe, the Middle East and the Nearctic, which has now spread to most of the world. Adult beetles feed on pollen and nectar, but the larvae feed on animal fibres and can be damaging pests to carpets, fabrics and museum specimens.
Centuria Insectorum is a 1763 taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Johansson; which of the two men should for taxonomic purposes be credited with its authorship has been the subject of some controversy. It includes descriptions of 102 new insect and crustacean species that had been sent to Linnaeus from British America, Suriname, Java and other locations. Most of the new names included in Centuria Insectorum are still in use, although a few have been sunk into synonymy, and one was the result of a hoax: a common brimstone butterfly with spots painted on was described as the new "species" Papilio ecclipsis.
Cantharis livida is a species of soldier beetle belonging to the genus Cantharis and the family Cantharidae.
Monochamus scutellatus, commonly known as the white-spotted sawyer or spruce sawyer or spruce bug, is a common wood-boring beetle found throughout North America. It is a species native to North America.
Cantharis obscura is a species of beetle belonging to the family Cantharidae
Mating
