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.
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. These pools typically range from a few inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide, as seawater gets trapped when the tide recedes. Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. A tidal cycle is usually about 25 hours and consists of one or two high tides and two low tides.
The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as sea stars, sea urchins, and many species of coral with regional differences in biodiversity. Sometimes it is referred to as the littoral zone or seashore, although those can be defined as a wider region.
Pagurus bernhardus is the common marine hermit crab of Europe's Atlantic coasts. It is sometimes referred to as the common hermit crab or soldier crab. Its carapace reaches 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) long, and is found in both rocky and sandy areas, from the Arctic waters of Iceland, Svalbard and Russia as far south as southern Portugal, but its range does not extend as far as the Mediterranean Sea. It can be found in pools on the upper shore and at the mean tide level down to a depth of approximately 140 metres (460 ft), with smaller specimens generally found in rock pools around the middle shore and lower shore regions, with larger individuals at depth. P. bernhardus is an omnivorous detritivore that opportunistically scavenges for carrion, and which can also filter feed when necessary.
Intertidal ecology is the study of intertidal ecosystems, where organisms live between the low and high tide lines. At low tide, the intertidal is exposed whereas at high tide, the intertidal is underwater. Intertidal ecologists therefore study the interactions between intertidal organisms and their environment, as well as between different species of intertidal organisms within a particular intertidal community. The most important environmental and species interactions may vary based on the type of intertidal community being studied, the broadest of classifications being based on substrates—rocky shore and soft bottom communities.
A rocky shore is an intertidal area of seacoasts where solid rock predominates. Rocky shores are biologically rich environments, and are a useful "natural laboratory" for studying intertidal ecology and other biological processes. Due to their high accessibility, they have been well studied for a long time and their species are well known.
Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies.
Scolt Head Island is an offshore barrier island between Brancaster and Wells-next-the-Sea in north Norfolk. It is in the parish of Burnham Norton and is accessed by a seasonal ferry from the village of Overy Staithe. The shingle and sand island appears to have originated from a former spit extending from the coast, and longshore drift means that it is slowly moving to the west and inshore.
Beach wrack or marine wrack is organic material and other debris are deposited at high tide on beaches and other coastal area. This material acts as a natural input of marine resources into a terrestrial system, providing food and habitat for a variety of coastal organisms.
An intertidal wetland is an area along a shoreline that is exposed to air at low tide and submerged at high tide. This type of wetland is defined by an intertidal zone and includes its own intertidal ecosystems.
The pictured rove beetle is a wingless rove beetle which lives on the sandy beaches of the West Coast of the United States from southern Alaska to Baja California. It is nocturnal, emerging at night from temporary sand burrows to feed on beach hoppers (Orchestoidea).
Dicheirotrichus is a genus in the beetle family Carabidae. There are more than 50 described species in Dicheirotrichus.
Aepus marinus is a species of beetle in the family Carabidae. It is found in the intertidal zone of marine habitats in northwestern Europe where it lives in crevices and under stones. The adult beetle is about 2.5 mm (0.1 in) in length, and is a reddish-yellow colour.
Bledius spectabilis, commonly known as the magnificent salt beetle, is a species of small rove beetle.
Barycnemis blediator is a small parasitic wasp. It lays its eggs in the larvae of the salt marsh rove beetle, Bledius spectabilis, which shows unusual behaviour for an insect in that it actively protects its young from the wasp.
Guyanemorpha is a genus of beetles, the Guyane False-form beetles, in the family Carabidae. It contains one known species, the Spectacular Guyane False-form beetle,, which was found in French Guiana and first described in 2013 by Terry L. Erwin in the open access journal ZooKeys. It was discovered during a survey of the country's insects by the Entomological Society Antilles-Guyane (SEAG).
Bledius annularis, or ringed borrow rove beetle, is a species of spiny-legged rove beetle in the family Staphylinidae. It is found in North America.
Bledius is a genus of spiny-legged rove beetles in the family Staphylinidae. There are at least 100 described species in Bledius.
Tristram Dick Wyatt is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is a senior research fellow in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford and an emeritus fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. Wyatt researches pheromones and animal behavior.
