Beetles
Order Coleoptera
1299 speciesThe largest order of insects, comprising about 25% of all known animal species. Beetles are found in nearly every habitat and are distinguished by their hardened forewings called elytra.
Species in this Order
Tropical Toed-Winged Beetle
Anchytarsus bicolor
A two-toned brown ptilodactylid beetle found in Central and South American cloud forests. Its larvae...
Tschitscherine's Ground Beetle
Carabus schoenherri
A large ground beetle from the forests of European Russia and Siberia with heavily ridged elytra and...
Tsivoka Longhorn Beetle
Tsivoka villiersi
A member of an endemic Malagasy longhorn beetle genus recently revised taxonomically. It has a slend...
Tumblebug Beetle
Canthon vigilans
A small dung beetle that buries carrion as well as dung for its larvae....
Tumbling Flower Beetle
Mordella aculeata
A small, humpbacked beetle that tumbles erratically when disturbed. Adults are commonly found on flo...
Tundra Leaf Beetle
Chrysomela lapponica
A rounded, metallic reddish-brown leaf beetle with variable dark markings. Adults and larvae feed on...
Tunnel Beetle
Lymexylon navale
A slender cylindrical beetle whose larvae bore straight tunnels through oak timber. Historically dam...
Turk's Tiger Beetle
Cephalota turcica
A distinctive tiger beetle found on saline lake shores and mudflats across Turkey and the Middle Eas...
Turnip Flea Beetle
Phyllotreta nemorum
A small, shiny black beetle with a broad yellow longitudinal stripe on each elytron. It is a signifi...
Twelve-Lined Whirligig Beetle
Gyrinus minutus
One of the smallest European whirligig beetles, found in clean ponds and lakes. It is often overlook...
Twenty-spotted Leaf Beetle
Chrysomela vigintipunctata
A distinctive leaf beetle with reddish-brown elytra marked with twenty black spots arranged in rows....
Twenty-Two Spot Ladybird
Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata
A tiny bright yellow ladybird with exactly 22 black spots, widespread across Europe. Unlike most lad...
Twig-girdling Longhorn
Ceroplesis thunbergii
A grey and black longhorn beetle with pale speckled markings. It girdles living twigs to create suit...
Twin-spotted Firefly
Photinus tanytoxus
A small North American firefly with a bright greenish-yellow flash and distinctive twin light organs...
Two-banded Longhorn
Rhagium bifasciatum
A robust, short-antennated flower longhorn with two yellowish bands on dark elytra. Common across Eu...
Two-colored Quedius
Quedius cruentus
A medium-sized rove beetle with a metallic dark head and pronotum contrasting with blood-red elytra....
Two-Horned Oxysternon
Oxysternon durum
A large, dark metallic green tunneling dung beetle with two prominent pronotal projections in males....
Two-lined Chestnut Borer Leaf Beetle
Chrysomela mainensis
A convex beetle with metallic dark greenish-black elytra and fine punctation. It is found on alder a...
Two-lined Leatherwing
Atalantycha bilineata
A slender soldier beetle with pale yellowish-brown elytra bearing two faint darker lines. It is an a...
Two-Spot Ladybird
Adalia bipunctata
A small ladybird typically red with two black spots, though melanic (black with red spots) forms are...
Two-spotted Case-bearer
Cryptocephalus bipunctatus
A cylindrical beetle with red to orange elytra each bearing a single black spot, and a dark head and...
Two-Spotted Dung Beetle
Onthophagus nuchicornis
A small, mottled brown and yellow tunneling dung beetle with two dark spots on the pronotum. Males h...
Two-Spotted Hister Beetle
Hister bipustulatus
A small, globular black beetle with two red-orange spots on its truncated elytra. It is commonly fou...
Two-spotted Jet Beetle
Stenus bipunctatus
A small black rove beetle with two distinctive reddish spots on its elytra and greatly enlarged comp...
Two-Spotted Oak Buprestid
Agrilus biguttatus
A slender, dark bronze-green jewel beetle with two white spots on its elytra. It is implicated in ac...
Twolined Chestnut Borer
Agrilus bilineatus
A jewel beetle that attacks stressed oaks and chestnuts in eastern North America. It is named for tw...
Uganda Giant Flower Beetle
Mecynorrhina ugandensis
A large and colorful cetoniine beetle with metallic green and yellow coloration. Males have a promin...
Urussov's Sawyer
Monochamus urussovii
A large dark brown longhorn beetle with greyish pubescence, distributed across the taiga forests of ...
Vacca Dung Beetle
Onthophagus vacca
A small coppery-green to bronze tunneler with a broad head and short horns in males. It is a common ...
Variable Dung Beetle
Onthophagus fracticornis
A small, highly variable tunneling dung beetle found across Europe. Coloration ranges from pale brow...
Variable Rove Beetle
Philonthus varians
A small but abundant rove beetle highly variable in elytral coloration, ranging from entirely black ...
Varied Carpet Beetle
Anthrenus verbasci
A tiny, round beetle with mottled white, brown, and yellow scales on its elytra. It is a worldwide p...
Variegated Flower Beetle
Gnorimus variabilis
A dark brown or black beetle with variable yellow-white spots on the elytra. It is extremely rare an...
Vedalia Beetle
Novius cardinalis
A small red-and-black ladybird famous as the first successful biological control agent in history. I...
Velebit Cave Beetle
Hadesia vasiceki
A blind, reddish-brown cave beetle from deep caves in the Dinaric Alps. It has a narrow elongated bo...
Velvet Longhorn
Trichoferus campestris
A brownish-grey cerambycid covered in fine velvety pubescence, native to Central Asia but now spread...
Velvet Shore Rove Beetle
Heterothops praevius
A small, dark rove beetle found in leaf litter and decaying organic matter in European forests. It i...
Viburnum Leaf Beetle
Pyrrhalta viburni
A small, brownish-yellow beetle with dense pubescence that has become a serious invasive pest of orn...
Viennese Ground Beetle
Carabus fabricii
A large metallic ground beetle of mountain forests and alpine meadows. It is a powerful predator of ...
Vietnamese Firefly
Luciola curtithorax
A small Southeast Asian firefly with a compact dark body and a short, broad pronotum with pale margi...
Violet Dung Beetle
Oniticellus planatus
A small, distinctive dung beetle with a flattened body and yellowish elytra marked with dark spots. ...
Violet Ground Beetle
Carabus violaceus
A large black beetle with violet or purple margins on its elytra and thorax. It is nocturnal and hid...
Violet Longhorn
Callidium violaceum
A compact, flat cerambycid with a striking metallic violet coloration across its entire body. Widesp...
Violet-legged Agapanthia
Agapanthia violacea
A slender longhorn beetle with a striking combination of violet-tinged legs and greenish-yellow pube...
Violin Beetle
Mormolyce phyllodes
An extraordinarily flat beetle shaped like a violin. Its paper-thin body allows it to squeeze betwee...
Wallace's Line Stag Beetle
Odontolabis latipennis
A large stag beetle with broad, flattened elytra and wide mandibles in males. The body is dark reddi...
Wallace's Long-Armed Beetle
Cheirotonus parryi
A large, rare beetle with extremely elongated forelegs in males. Named for the naturalist Alfred Rus...
Wallace's Longhorn
Batocera wallacei
A large longhorn beetle named after the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. Mottled brown and cream co...
Warehouse Beetle
Trogoderma variabile
A stored product beetle closely related to the khapra beetle that infests grain, cereals, and dried ...
Washerwoman Christmas Beetle
Anoplognathus porosus
A large tan to brown Christmas beetle with a rough, pitted elytra surface. It is one of the most wid...
Wasp Beetle
Clytus arietis
A longhorn beetle with yellow and black banding that mimics a common wasp. It even moves in a jerky,...
Wasp Nest Beetle
Metoecus paradoxus
A bizarre wedge-shaped beetle that develops as a parasitoid inside social wasp nests. Males have fea...
Watanabe Dung Beetle
Onthophagus watanabei
A small, brown tunneling dung beetle from Southeast Asian forests with distinctively elongated curve...
Water Scavenger Beetle
Hydrophilus piceus
One of the largest European water beetles, with a glossy black, boat-shaped body. Despite its name, ...
Water Spinach Flea Beetle
Chaetocnema basalis
A tiny, shiny dark bronze to black flea beetle that is a significant pest of rice seedlings and wate...
Water-lily Reed Beetle
Donacia simplex
A metallic coppery-bronze aquatic beetle with longitudinal ridges on the elytra. Adults sit on float...
Waterhouse Stag Beetle
Phalacrognathus muelleri waterhouseorum
A subspecies of the rainbow stag beetle from New Guinea with even more vivid metallic coloring. High...
Waterlily Leaf Beetle
Galerucella nymphaeae
A small, brown leaf beetle that feeds on the upper surfaces of waterlily pads. It creates distinctiv...
Weevil
Curculio glandium
Acorn weevils have an enormously long rostrum (snout) used to bore into acorns for egg laying. Curcu...
West African Firefly
Luciola lusitanica
A small soft-bodied beetle that produces bioluminescent flashes to attract mates. Males fly and flas...
West African Tiger Beetle
Megacephala megacephala
A large, nocturnal tiger beetle with a broad head and powerful mandibles. The body is dark brown to ...
Western Balsam Bark Beetle
Dryocoetes confusus
A bark beetle that primarily attacks subalpine fir in western North America. It often colonizes tree...
Western Banded Glowworm
Zarhipis integripennis
A North American glowworm beetle where the larviform female produces rows of greenish-yellow biolumi...
Western Cedar Borer
Trachykele blondeli
A large, dark metallic jewel beetle that develops in western red cedar. Larvae create distinctive ov...
Western Corn Rootworm
Diabrotica virgifera
One of the most economically damaging corn pests in North America. Larvae feed on corn roots, causin...
Western Eyed Click Beetle
Alaus melanops
The western counterpart to the eyed click beetle, with smaller, solid black eyespots. Found in old-g...
Western Firefly
Microphotus angustus
A rare western North American firefly with larviform females that glow. Males are winged but produce...
Western Pine Beetle
Dendroctonus brevicomis
A small dark brown bark beetle that attacks ponderosa pine trees. It is one of the most destructive ...
Western Water Penny
Psephenus falli
A water penny beetle restricted to clean mountain streams in western North America. Its disc-shaped ...
Whip-scorpion Rove Beetle
Paederus amazonicus
A brightly colored Amazonian rove beetle with orange and metallic blue markings typical of the Paede...
Whirligig Beetle
Gyrinus natator
A small, oval, shiny black beetle that spins in rapid circles on the water surface. Its eyes are div...
Whirligig Diving Beetle
Macrogyrus oblongus
A large whirligig beetle that spins on the water surface of African rivers....
White Clover Weevil
Protapion fulvipes
A minute black weevil with pale legs that feeds on white clover flower heads. Extremely common in pa...
White Pine Weevil
Pissodes strobi
A small, mottled brown weevil that attacks the leading shoots of spruce and pine trees. Damage cause...
White-Lined Darkling Beetle
Eleodes longicollis
A smooth, elongated darkling beetle with a distinctively long pronotum. It is common in the Chihuahu...
White-lined Goliath Beetle
Goliathus orientalis
A striking goliath beetle with bold white longitudinal stripes on a dark background. It inhabits for...
White-spotted Longhorn
Batocera rufomaculata
A large greyish-brown longhorn beetle with orange or rufous spots on its elytra. It is a significant...
White-Spotted Longhorn Beetle
Anoplophora malasiaca
A striking longhorn beetle native to Japan with bright white spots on a glossy black body. Known as ...
White-spotted Sawyer
Monochamus scutellatus
A large black longhorn beetle with a distinctive white spot at the base of the elytra. Males have an...
Wide-Headed Dung Beetle
Onthophagus nigriventris
A small, greenish-bronze tunneling dung beetle from East Africa with a very wide head in major males...
Wide-Horned Scarab
Euoniticellus intermedius
A small, yellow-brown tunneling dung beetle with dark markings on the pronotum. Males have two short...
Willow Calligrapha
Calligrapha multipunctata bigsbyana
A subspecies of Calligrapha with pale elytra marked with elongated dark spots and dashes. It is asso...
Winter Firefly
Ellychnia corrusca
A day-active firefly that does not produce light as an adult. It is commonly found on tree trunks du...
Woodland Dor Beetle
Anoplotrupes stercorosus
A medium-sized, convex dung beetle with a steel-blue or black dorsal surface and metallic blue-viole...
Woodland Pterostichus
Pterostichus oblongopunctatus
A medium-sized, shiny black ground beetle with distinctive oblong punctures in rows on its elytra. I...
Wooly Darkling Beetle
Eleodes osculans
A stout black beetle common in southwestern US deserts. It raises its abdomen in a defensive headsta...
Wrinkled Bark Beetle
Rhysodes sulcatus
An extremely rare and primitive beetle with deep longitudinal grooves on its elytra. Found only in v...
Wrinkled Rove Beetle
Oxytelus rugosus
A small, flattened rove beetle with a heavily sculptured pronotum bearing deep longitudinal furrows....
Xantholine Rove Beetle
Xantholinus linearis
An elongated, shiny black rove beetle with a distinctive long head. It hunts small invertebrates in ...
Xylotrupes Rhinoceros Beetle
Xylotrupes gideon
A widespread Asian rhinoceros beetle commonly used in beetle fighting. Males have a forked horn on t...
Yanbaru Long-armed Scarab
Cheirotonus jambar
An extremely rare scarab beetle endemic to the Yanbaru forests of Okinawa. Males have greatly elonga...
Yellow False Blister Beetle
Oedemera flavipes
A slender yellowish-brown oedemerid beetle found across Europe. It is a frequent visitor to umbellif...
Yellow-banded Eucalyptus Longhorn
Phoracantha recurva
An Australian cerambycid similar to P. semipunctata but with more pronounced yellowish bands and rec...
Yellow-Clubbed Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus investigator
A burying beetle distinguished by its orange-tipped antennal clubs and broad orange elytral bands. I...
Yellow-legged Aleocharine
Aleochara curtula
A medium-sized aleocharine rove beetle whose larvae are parasitoids of fly pupae, a rare strategy am...
Yellow-Margined Water Scavenger Beetle
Hydrochara caraboides
A large dark water scavenger beetle with yellowish margins on the pronotum. It inhabits well-vegetat...
Yellow-shouldered Christmas Beetle
Anoplognathus chloropyrus
A medium-sized Christmas beetle recognisable by its yellowish-green pronotum contrasting with darker...
Yellow-Winged Darter Rove Beetle
Philonthus cognatus
A medium-sized, metallic-black rove beetle with brownish wing tips. It is one of the most common sta...
Zambesianus Scarab
Scarabaeus zambesianus
A nocturnal African roller dung beetle with a smooth, dark body. It was the first animal proven to u...