BEETLE

Beetles are insects. They make up one of the biggest groups of insects. There are about 300, 000 kinds of beetles. They live everywhere except in the ocean. You can find beetles in the house, in the yard, in the forest, even in ponds.

Like all insects, beetles have six legs. They have two pair wings, but they use only the back pairs of wings for flying. The front wings re like tough shields. They protect the beetle’s body. Some beetle burrow underground. Some swim and dive.

Beetles come in all shapes and sizes. Some are long and thin, other are round. Some are brightly colored; others are dull brown or black. Some beetles are so small you can hardly see them, but the biggest beetles are as big as your hand.

Many beetles hunt other insects for food. Other beetles eat plants. Farmers dislike some beetles because they eat crops. However, many beetles are useful, like the ladybug. It eats harmful insect. Some beetles help clear way nature’s garbage. They eat dead plants and animals.

Beetles have many enemies.  Birds, reptiles, and other insects like to eat beetles. Most beetles try to escape by hiding or flying away, but a few beetles fight back. Some can bite others can shoot a hot spray of gas at an enemy.

Beetles grow up in an interesting way. Female beetles lay eggs. The egg hatches into a larva. The larva has a hard covering on the outside of its body. The larva slips out of this covering several times as it grows bigger. This is called molting. After it its last molting, the larva changes into a pupa. The pupa looks more like beetle, but it is softer than an adult beetle. Some beetles spend a whole winter underground as pupa. Finally, an adult beetle crowls out of the pupa’s dry shell.

The largest families of beetles are weevils, or snout beetles. They use their long snouts to bore hole in plants. Leaf beetles make up another large beetle family. One leaf beetle pest is the Colorado potato beetle, which damages potato crops.  

Ground beetles often come out at night to search for food. Some roving beetles eat plants. Scrab beetles include dung beetles and tumble-bugs. These eat balls of animals’ dung, or solid body waste.

Two usual kind beetles are click beetle and fireflies. Click beetles jump or make a clicking sound if you try touch them the firefly, or lightning bug, uses chemicals in its body to make a glowing light. The firefly’s light helps it attract a mate when it wants to breed. Some female fireflies are called glow worms. 

Taken from: English in contact for grade X