Beetle

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Adephaga

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Archostemata

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Myxophaga

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Polyphaga

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See subgroups of the order Coleoptera

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Beetles are one of the main groups of insects. Their order, Coleoptera (meaning "sheathed wing"), has more species in it than any other order in the entire animal kingdom. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species), and new species are regularly discovered. Estimates put the total number of species ? described and undescribed ? at between 5 and 8 million.

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When J. B. S. Haldane, a British geneticist, was asked what his studies of nature revealed about God, he replied, "An inordinate fondness for beetles".

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Beetles can be found in almost all habitats, but are not known to occur in the sea or in the polar regions. They have a major impact on the ecosystem in three ways: feeding on plants and fungi, breaking down animal and plant debris, and eating other invertebrates. Certain species are agricultural pests in some areas, for example the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), while other species are important controls of agricultural pests, for example the lady beetles (family Coccinellidae) consume aphids, fruit flies, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.

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Order: Order (from Latin ordo "row, rank, series, arrangement", Old French ordre from the Latin accusative, ordinem, attested in English from the 1220s). The word conveys a notion of "a system of parts subject to certain uniform, established ranks or proportions", an idea very central to scholastic thoug...

Species: In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. Species are "groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups" (however, see other definitions of species below)....

Animal kingdom: Animal Kingdom may refer to:...

Beetle related Images and Photos (experimental)

Beetle: Scarabaeus Atlas of Java	Hercules Beetle Scarabeus	Beetle 2011 Wall Calendar	Blue Beetle Symbol T-Shirt
Blue Beetle Boundaries Graphic Novel	Michael Keaton - Beetle Juice	VW BEETLE - With Surfboard	Volkswagen Beetle 2012 Wall Calendar
Volkswagen Beetle 2011 Wall Calendar	Beetlejuice - Framed Beetle	A Red Leaf Beetle on a Green Leaf	Youth: Batman BB-Blue Beetle Shield