190 



ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE 



and include such forms as the June beetle, the lady- 

 bird, the potato beetle, the fireflies or lightning-bugs, 

 and the plum curculio. The Coleoptera are not likely 

 to be mistaken for those of any other order. The term 

 arises from two Greek words, /coXe'o?, coleos, meaning 

 sheath, and Trrepdv, pteron, wing. 



FIG. 162. A click beetle (Alaus 

 oculatus). From photograph. X 



Basing 



FIG. 163. Wood-boring beetle 

 at work in yellow-pine board. 

 Photographed Jfroin life by W. O. 

 Stevens. 



the classification 

 upon the mouth-parts, the 

 order is divided into two 

 groups : the true beetles, such as the June beetle and the 

 ground beetle (page 277), those with typical mouth- 

 parts ; and those with mouth-parts developed into a long 

 snout, such as the plum curculio, and the snout beetle 

 illustrated in the figure. (Fig. 1G4.) The order em- 

 braces a large number of species, and a number of these 

 are of common occurrence. Some forms, such as the tiger 

 beetles, the ground beetles, whirligig beetles (or " lucky 



