CHAPTER VI 

 THE COLEOPTERA OR BEETLES 



As the insects include many more species than any other 

 class in the animal kingdom, so do the species of beetles 

 outnumber those of any other order of insects. The order 

 is not so diversified as the Hemiptera, notwithstanding 

 its enormous size. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, 



FIG. 41. The California May beetle, Lachnoslerna errans Lee. 

 and grubs, enlarged. (After Essig.) 



Adult 



one can detect a beetle at first glance, with perfect 

 certainty. All of the beetles have biting mouth parts 

 much like those of the Orthoptera, but they differ from 

 the Orthoptera in undergoing a complete metamorphosis; 

 that is, their life history falls into three well-defined stages : 

 the active larva, the quiescent pupa, and the imago. 

 The first pair of wings are modified into hard thick wing 



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