GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



Fig. 15.30. Coleoptera. A, larva of a tie;er 

 beetle, Omus, in its burrow, alert for prev. B, 

 adult tia;er beetle, Cicindela. Note the well- 

 developed mandibles of both larva and adult, 

 and the rie;id, sheath-like fore wings of the adult. 

 (From E. S. Ross, Insects Close Up, copyright 

 1933 bv University of California Press, reprinted 

 bv permission.) 



The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlmeata, like other beetles, has 

 fore wings specialized into a pair of covers, or elytrae, which fit together so 

 tightly along the median line that they seem at first glance to form the dorsal 

 side of a wingless body. When the elytrae are lifted, the functional hind 

 wings are found folded beneath. In flight, the fore wings do not vibrate but 

 are held stretched upward and outward in a V, to clear the rapidly beating 



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