Body Parts of a Beetle Insect

Beetles are one of the most fascinating creatures in the animal kingdom. They outnumber most of the insects around the world. There are beetles of various shapes and sizes. Some look ferocious, like the Hercules beetle, and some look very pretty, like the red ladybug. But no matter the characteristic of this wonderful bug, they consist of three main parts, which make up their distinguishing mark of being a beetle.

  1. The Head

    • The eyes, mouthpiece and the antennae are the basic parts of this major part of the beetle. It is the smallest part that they have. Both the adult and nymphs have compound eyes and can only see about 90 centimeters of a distance. The beetle's mouth does not have jaws. Instead they are equipped with mandibles in their upper lip as pincers, and two pairs of maxillae forming the blade like appendages and the labium. The antennae of the beetle feels, hears, tastes, smells and learns of the temperature and humidity of the beetle's surroundings. Depending on the beetle, most males have horns attached to its head. Although it cannot hurt as much, they use their horns to battle other males during courtship. The victorious male then can attract his female. Beetles also use the horns to dig away from danger.

    The Thorax

    • The middle part of the beetle is the thorax, which has three segments: the prothorax, the mesothorax and metathorax. Each of these segments has three pairs of hinds and two pairs of wings. Beetles are not known to live in water, but some are surprisingly good swimmers, such as the diving beetles, which use its legs as oars. Usually, the thorax cannot be seen because the wings hide it. Instead a view from below would make the thorax more visible and show the legs and the wings attached to it.

    The Abdomen

    • The beetle's abdomen gives it a distinctive appearance. The elytra serves as a protection for the abdomen. It is hard, acting as a special armor for the beetle allowing. It allows the beetle to go to places where other insects would normally break or hurt their wings such as when they are burrowing. The abdomen of a beetle is at the rear of the thorax. It is also where they emit a foul scent to ward off any enemies that threaten them.