XXIV. THE BEETLES
The beetles (Fig. 199) are insects having their fore wings thickened to constitute sheaths or covers for the lower pair, used in flight. Their mouths are adapted for biting, and they pass through a complete metamorphosis. There are about ninety thousand species, ranging from minute creatures to huge, lumbering goliaths. When walking the beetle presents a trim appearance, enveloped in a gleaming armor of the highest polish, and often ablaze with metallic tints, but when it flies the elytra, or wing covers, are thrown up, and a pair of soft, silken wings flutter out, stiffen, and bear the beetle away.
Fig. 199.—A typical beetle (Cotalpa): A, imago; B, larva.
Fig. 200.—Head of a beetle.
The head of the beetle is small and adapted for biting (Fig. 200); the digestive apparatus is simple. The most noticeable feature of many are the antennæ (Fig. 201), which often are very long and ornamental. The eyes are compound. The legs are strong and powerful. The beetles spend little time in flying, many being flesh eaters and continually searching for game under refuse and in dark places. They lay eggs which are deposited in the ground, or in special cavities made in wood, which hatch into larvæ (Fig. 202). In the tiger beetle the larvæ resemble white worms. In the rose beetle they look like grubs. These in time change to helpless pupæ.
Fig. 201.—Antennæ of beetles.
