Beetles are insects in the order Coleoptera. There are around 400,000 described species in the order and is the largest order, constituting almost 40% of all described insects and 25% of all known animals.
Beetles are found in almost every habitat except the sea and polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems by feeding on plants and fungi, breaking down animal and plant debris, while other are carnivorous and eat other invertebrates.
Beetles typically have a particularly hard exoskeleton including the elytra which are a hardened front pair of wings. The general anatomy of a beetle is quite typical of insects, although there are several exceptions like water beetles, which trap air bubbles under the elytra for use while diving. Beetles like some other groups of insects are endopterygotes, which means that they undergo complete metamorphosis. Some, beetle groups have a marked sexual dimorphism, with males possessing enormously enlarged mandibles use to fight other males.
The adults and larvae of beetles are preyed upon by many species of animals, from bats, rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, fishes as well as other predatory arthropods such as dragonflies, robberflies, assassin bugs, ants and spiders. And it is for this reason that Beetles have evolved a wide variety of anti-predator adaptations to defend themselves. These include developing toxicity, and mimicry associated with other toxic species, camouflage as well as other defensive behaviour.
Beetles are associated to human in a multitude of ways. In ancient cultures, such as ancient Egypt, several species of dung beetle, especially the sacred scarab, Scarabaeus sacer, were revered. Because beetles are phytophagous, they are important in recycling plant matter in the environment, but on the flip-side, this makes them an important agricultural pest as a group. Many beetle species feed on economically important plants (leaves and fruits) and stored plant products such as cereals, grain and dried fruit.
While many species tend to be pest, there are others which are beneficial and important in pest control and used in biocontrol of other pest species. The larvae and adults of lady bird beetles feed on aphids, scale insects, white fly, mealy bugs. Ground beetles have also been used to control weeds by eating their seed in the soil, reducing the need for toxic herbicide that pollute ground water. Dung beetles have also been used to control pestilent flies in Australia, by burying dung underground, making the dung unavailable to these flies.
Beetles are also the most widely eaten insects, with 300 plus species used as food. Among the commonly eaten are the larvae of darkling beetles (mealworms) and rhinoceros beetles.
Because of habitat specificity, beetles are a good bioindicator. The quantity and number of species suggest a measure of habitat quality, an absence of large species suggest poor habitat quality.
Source: Wikipedia
Coleoptera families
(Fungus Weevils)
(Leaf-rolling Weevil)
(Straight-snouted Weevils)
(Jewel Beetles)
(Cedar Beetles)
(Soldier Beetles)
(Ground Beetles)
(Longhorn Beetles)
(Leaf Beetles)
(Checkered Beetles)
(Ladybird Beetles)
(Snout Beetle Weevil)
(Long-toed Water Beetles)
(Click Beetles)
(Handsome Fungus Beetles)
(Pleasing Fungus Beetles)
(False-click Beetles)
(Hister Beetles)
(Scavenger Scarab Beetles)
(Net-winged Beetles)
(Tumbling Flower Beetles)
(Sap Feeding Beetles)
(Bess Beetles)
(Parasitic Flat Bark Beetles)
(Scarab Beetles)
(Marsh Beetles)
(Carrion Beetles)
(Roving Beetles)
(Darkling Beetles)
(Polypore Fungus Beetles)
(Small False Click Beetles)
(Ironclade Beetles)