WHAT
IS A BEETLE?
Beetles
have two prominent compound eyes, and antennea of
various shapes and sizes that arise between the eyes.
There are more than 300,000 known species of beetles
in the world, a number approximately equal to that
of known plant species.
Most
species of beetles can fly, most do so only to cover
short distances or to reach vegetation close to the
ground. The rest of their time is spent crawling on
or near the ground or on vegetation or swimming. Both
beetle larvae and adults are active predators eating
only aphids and other plant eating insects, such as
scales and mites.
Both
adults and larvae live on plants frequented by aphids,
including roses, oleander, milkweed and broccoli.
In the winter, the adults hibernate in large groups,
often in mountains at high elevations. The female
beetle lays eggs only where she knows aphids are present.
