Story

Amazing Beetles

David R. Maddison

 Whirlygig beetles

A Dineutes whirlygig beetle from Arizona, © Alex Wild

Whirlygigs beetles (family Gyrinidae) are very interesting animals, that spend much of the time as adults swimming around at the surface of the water. They have four eyes: two on the bottom that watch what's going on in the water, and two on top that look into the air. They also have very odd legs shaped like little paddles so they can scoot around on the surface.

More about whirlygig beetles:

 Exploding beetles

Many groups of beetles can release nasty chemicals at things that try to eat them. But two groups of ground beetles (bombardier beetles related to the genus Brachinus, as well as those related to Metrius and Paussus) are especially good at this. They have two little chambers in their abdomens that they mix chemicals in that react so violent that they explode out of the end of the beetles. These chemicals come out very hot - as hot as boiling water - and are poisonous - they have quinones in them. The animals have special structures that allow them to direct where the explosion goes - so that they can shoot it at whatever is bothering them. When you pick one of these beetles up, you can here a pop!, and see a little puff of steam. If they shoot you, it hurts a little, and usually will stain your finger.

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Left: a Brachinus bombardier beetle © 1995 David R. Maddison. Right: a Metrius bombadier beetle, © Alex Wild

More about bombardier beetles:

 Wrinkled-bark beetles: Beetles that walk into wood

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Clinidium baldufi

Clinidium wrinkled bark beetle, © 1997 David R. Maddison

More about wrinkled-bark beetles:

 Micromalthus: beetles with no fathers

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Female Micromalthus beetle, © 2007 David R. Maddison and female Micromalthus larvae, © Alex Wild

More about Micromalthus beetles:

 Priacma: beetles that like laundry

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Priacma serrata. © 1996 David R. Maddison

More about Priacma:

 Click beetles

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Semiotus click beetle, © 2007 Edwin Bellota

More about click beetles:

 Fireflies: Beetles that glow at night

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Photinus firefly, © 2004 kim fleming

More about fireflies:

 Stenus: jet propelled beetles

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Stenus sp. © 2004 Alex Wild

More about Stenus rove beetles:

 Ptiliids: the smallest beetles

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Acrotrichinae habitus

Acrotrichinae. © 1995 W. Eugene Hall

More about ptiliids:

 Ladybird beetles

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Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Coccinella septempunctata, © 2005 Russ Ottens

More about ladybird beetles:

About This Page

David R. Maddison
Oregon State University

Page: Tree of Life Amazing Beetles Authored by David R. Maddison. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

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