Mr. Beetle.
Now let us get a beetle and look at him closely. You will often find dead beetles on your path or in the grass. You can take them to pieces and compare them with what you read about them.
The first thing that you will notice in the beetle is the hard case over the wing. The wing-cases look like little shells, and have a nice hinge to hold them in their place.
These two wing-covers fit close to each other over the beetle’s back. When he flies he lifts them away from the wings. When you take off these covers you will see lying under the cases a pair of neatly folded wings. These wings are made much as Mrs. Wasp’s are.
Mr. Crab.
The cases are used for armor, not for flying. They are really a pair of wings. The fine silken under-wings are the pair with which beetles fly.
There are some beetles that do not have this second pair, and so cannot fly. There are some that have the upper pair so short that they do not half cover the body. Beetles which do not have the lower wings creep from place to place.
Watch a beetle as he crawls on the ground. Now see him! When his back flies open two bright-hued shells rise up. This crawling thing sweeps into the air on a pair of wide thin wings!