THE BEETLES 



(Ci>lc(ii>lrrii) 



HcL'tlfs arc (li^tini^uislll.■(l fruni the (ithcr orders of flying- creatures li\- ]ia\ iu^' 

 tlie first i)air of wings changed into sliells under wliich tlie other ])air can be 

 safely folded and laid away. Yon can usually recognize theni when they 

 spreatl their wings to fly, for they have to raise their wing covers in order to 

 do so. Also they generally Ikhc prouiiucnt jaws, as they are lilting crt'atnrt-s 

 and do not suck the juices of plants and animals as the bugs do. 



Beetles are almost everywhere. ^ on cannot turn over a stone or hrt'ak 

 down a stum]) or roll o^•er a log wilhoul distnrliing some of them, and yet 

 perhaps less is known about the li\('s of beetles than al)ont those of any other 

 of the great orders of insects. 



They lead two lives, distinct as two !i\cs can be; one in the form of a grub, 

 the other as a full-grown beetle. To make tin' tran.sfonnation, they burrow 

 into the ground or into the wood ot tn'cs and but rarely make for themselves 

 silken cocoons such as the butterll.\- lar\a' spin. 



They do not lead so aerial an existence as .some other orders, l>ut, ne^er- 

 theless, they are today, perhaps because of their closely fitting outer siiclis. 

 the predominant order of insects of the ])resent epoch and aireail,\' there are 

 known the bcAviUlering number of l.'j{),0()0 species. In North Ameri<a alone 

 (Mexico cxce))ted) l'-2,()0() sjiecies have been described antl these ha\e been 

 gronjied into eighty families and '2,000 genera. The general public is beginning 

 to realize that not everyone can be an entomologi.st, and that the (piality of 

 lirains and training retjuired before one can travel safely among this maze of 

 forms and distinguish between the friends and foes of our agriciiltui'c is a 

 (|uality of the greate.st value to mankind. 



So far as man is concerned, this gigantic class of creatures is among the 

 most dcstructi\e with which \\f di\idc life on this planet, and though there 

 are beetle friends which hel|) us by ])reying on other beetles and by making 

 humus out of leaves and twigs, and by feeding millions vi our song birds, yet, 

 a'^ a whole, they represent a restless, armored midtitude which perliajis we 

 sliould lie just as well without. 



Ill 



