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.
Spercheus is a genus of aquatic beetles which are placed in a family of their own, Spercheidae within the Hydrophiloidea. About 20 species are known from around the world except the Nearctic with the majority being from the Oriental and Afrotropical Realms.
The Japanese beetle is a species of scarab beetle. The adult measures 15 mm (0.6 in) in length and 10 mm (0.4 in) in width, has iridescent copper-colored elytra, and a green thorax and head. Due to natural predators, the Japanese beetle is not considered a pest in Japan, but in North America and some regions of Europe, it is a noted pest to roughly 300 species of plants. Some of these plants include rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, birch trees, linden trees, and others.
The whirligig beetles are water beetles, comprising the family Gyrinidae that usually swim on the surface of the water if undisturbed, though they swim underwater when threatened. They get their common name from their habit of swimming rapidly in circles when alarmed, and are also notable for their divided eyes which are believed to enable them to see both above and below water. The family includes some 700 extant species worldwide, in 15 genera, plus a few fossil species. Most species are very similar in general appearance, though they vary in size from perhaps 3 mm to 18 mm in length. They tend to be flattened and rounded in cross section, in plain view as seen from above, and in longitudinal section. In fact their shape is a good first approximation to an ellipsoid, with legs and other appendages fitting closely into a streamlined surface. Whirligig beetles belong to the beetle suborder Adephaga, which also includes ground beetles and diving beetles.
The Haliplidae are a family of water beetles that swim using an alternating motion of the legs. They are therefore clumsy in water, and prefer to get around by crawling. The family consists of about 200 species in 5 genera, distributed wherever there is freshwater habitat; it is the only extant member of superfamily Haliploidea. They are also known as crawling water beetles or haliplids.
Elateridae or click beetles are a family of beetles. Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, spring beetles or skipjacks. This family was defined by William Elford Leach (1790–1836) in 1815. They are a cosmopolitan beetle family characterized by the unusual click mechanism they possess. There are a few other families of Elateroidea in which a few members have the same mechanism, but most elaterid subfamilies can click. A spine on the prosternum can be snapped into a corresponding notch on the mesosternum, producing a violent "click" that can bounce the beetle into the air. Clicking is mainly used to avoid predation, although it is also useful when the beetle is on its back and needs to right itself. There are about 9300 known species worldwide, and 965 valid species in North America.
The cereal leaf beetle is a significant crop pest, described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. Many of the terms used for arthropod leg segments are of Latin origin, and may be confused with terms for bones: coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, tarsus, ischium, metatarsus, carpus, dactylus, patella.
Coltivirus is a genus of viruses that infects vertebrates and invertebrates. It includes the causative agent of Colorado tick fever. Colorado tick fever virus can cause a fever, chills, headache, photophobia, myalgia, arthralgia, and lethargy. Children, in particular, may develop a hemorrhagic disease. Leukopenia with both lymphocytes and neutrophils is very common for Colorado tick fever virus. In either case, the infection can lead to encephalitis or meningitis.
Aspiviridae, formerly Ophioviridae, is a family of segmented negative-strand RNA viruses which infect plants. Member viruses are characterized by an elongated and highly filamentous and flexible nucleocapsid with helical symmetry. It is a monotypic taxon containing only one genus, Ophiovirus. Aspiviridae is also the only family in the order Serpentovirales, which in turn is the only order in the class Milneviricetes.
Scelophysa trimeni, commonly known as the blue monkey beetle, is a species of scarab beetles in the tribe Hopliini, subfamily Melolonthinae.
Tribolium is a genus of flour beetles in the family Tenebrionidae. They are known by various common names including flour beetles, flour weevils, red weevils and bran bugs.
Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) commonly affects adult Apis mellifera honey bees and causes a chronic paralysis that can easily spread to other members of a colony. Bees infected with CBPV begin to show symptoms after 5 days and die a few days after. Chronic bee paralysis virus infection is a factor that can contribute to or cause the sudden collapse of honeybee colonies. Since honeybees serve a vital role in ecological resilience, it is important to understand factors and diseases that threaten them.
Boolarra virus (BoV) is a member of the family Nodaviridae. It was named after Boolarra, Victoria where it was first discovered after infecting and killing or severely debilitating a pest larvae. As of now, the only known host for Boolarra virus is the Oncopera intricoides which a moth that is endemic to Victoria (Australia).
Xylosandrus compactus is a species of ambrosia beetle. Common names for this beetle include black twig borer, black coffee borer, black coffee twig borer and tea stem borer. The adult beetle is dark brown or black and inconspicuous; it bores into a twig of a host plant and lays its eggs, and the larvae create further tunnels through the plant tissues. These beetles are agricultural pests that damage the shoots of such crops as coffee, tea, cocoa and avocado.
Anisodactylus binotatus is a species of ground beetle native to Europe. It was discovered as being introduced to Canterbury, New Zealand in 1938. Anisodactylus binotatus is a species of Carabidae, also known as the ground beetle family. Although this species of beetle has no official recorded common names, literature from England refers to it as the common shortspur beetle.
The black queen cell virus (BQCV) is a virus that infects honey bees, specifically Apis mellifera, Apis florea, and Apis dorsata. Infection of the latter two species is more recent and can be attributed to genetic similarity and geographical closeness.
Black beetle virus (BBV) is a virus that was initially discovered in the North Island of New Zealand in Helensville in dead New Zealand black beetles in 1975.
Cosmopolites sordidus, commonly known as the banana root borer, banana borer, or banana weevil, is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is a pest of banana cultivation and has a cosmopolitan distribution, being found in all parts of the world in which bananas are grown. It is considered the most serious insect pest of bananas.
Cacosceles newmannii is a species of longhorned beetle in the family Cerambycidae native to Southern Africa. Its natural host plants have not yet been fully determined, but may include species from the family Myrtaceae, and it has started to become a pest of sugarcane crops. It is assumed that its life cycle lasts two years, during which the larvae feed on organic matter.
