Beetles
Beetles are the most diverse group of animals on Earth, from horned rhinoceros beetles that wrestle for mates to click beetles that snap themselves into the air. These guides cover beetle identification, life cycles, diet, and behavior. (28 guides.)
BeetlesRead article →How Do Dung Beetles Contribute to the Ecosystem?How do dung beetles contribute to the ecosystem? Mostly by moving other animals' waste underground fast enough that its nutrients, water, and hitchhiking seeds get put to use inste
BeetlesRead article →How to Identify Rhinoceros Beetles by Horn ShapeHow to identify rhinoceros beetles comes down to reading five things in order: horn shape, body size, color, leg build, and where you found it. The subfamily Dynastinae, part of th
BeetlesRead article →Where Do Click Beetles Live? Forests, Fields, and SoilWhere do click beetles live? Members of the family Elateridae turn up almost everywhere on land except Antarctica, from forest floors and hay fields to backyard mulch beds. About 9
BeetlesRead article →Where Do Dung Beetles Live? From Rainforests to DesertsWhere do dung beetles live? On every continent except Antarctica, wherever there's a steady supply of animal droppings to feed on. There are several thousand described species in t
BeetlesRead article →What Are the Characteristics of Rhinoceros Beetles?What are the characteristics of rhinoceros beetles? They belong to the subfamily Dynastinae within the scarab family Scarabaeidae, and the group includes more than 300 species spre
BeetlesRead article →How to Spot Click Beetles in the Wild: The Clicking Spine TestHow to spot click beetles in the wild comes down to one trick: flip a suspect over. Elateridae is a family of roughly 10,000 species worldwide, and nearly all of them share a sprin
BeetlesRead article →What Do Japanese Beetles Eat? Roses, Grapes and LindensWhat Do Japanese Beetles Eat? Adult Popillia japonica feed on the leaves, flowers, and fruit of more than 300 plant species, with roses, grapes, and linden trees among their top ta
BeetlesRead article →How to Spot Dung Beetles in the Wild: Pitfall Trap TipsHow to spot dung beetles in the wild comes down to two things: knowing where livestock or wildlife droppings sit, and checking those spots at dawn or dusk. Dung beetles belong to t
BeetlesRead article →Where Do Japanese Beetles Live? Range Since 1916Where do Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) live? In the eastern and midwestern United States, in the top few inches of turf soil as grubs and on host-plant foliage as adults, fr
BeetlesRead article →What Is the Life Cycle of Dung Beetles? Brood Ball to AdultWhat is the life cycle of dung beetles? It runs through four stages, egg, larva, pupa, and adult, and in most species every one of those stages except the last happens sealed insid