Living Jewels of the Insect World
Living Jewels of the Insect World
BY AWAKE! WRITER IN SPAIN
THE high canopy of the tropical rain forest conceals thousands of living gems. Some glitter like gold and silver; others gleam like emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. These jewels of the forest, largely unseen by man, are beetles.
What comes to your mind when you think of beetles? Dark-colored bugs with grotesque features, scurrying around underfoot? In reality, beetles rank among the most colorful creatures on earth, as well as among the most numerous. According to The Guinness Book of Animal Records, the almost 400,000 identified species of Coleoptera—the scientific order that includes beetles—make up almost one third of all the planet’s known animal species. And in case you ever yearn to discover a new species yourself, you might try looking among the beetles. Entomologist Dr. Terry Erwin calculates that there could be millions more beetle species that remain unknown to science. Amazingly, Erwin found some 1,200 different species of beetles in just 19 large tropical trees.
Astonishing Variety
Considering the number of beetle species, it is not surprising that beetles come in a diversity of shapes and sizes. Some are “so big that early collectors knocked them out of the air by firing shotguns loaded with sand,” says National Geographic magazine. Others are “so small they hitchhike on the mouthparts of bees. There are even beetles that make their way into museums and devour beetle collections,” notes the magazine.
Beetle collections may, in fact, be worth a lot of money. Both the color and the rarity of the beetles affect their value. Scarab beetles run the gamut of greens and reds, along with silver and gold. A bright-red scarab, for instance, may sell for $200, whereas a scarab with a fine golden sheen can fetch more than twice that amount.
Some long-horned beetles, so named for their outsize antennae, boast impressive and colorful patterns. Still other beetles glisten like tiny, iridescent mosaics. Their shimmering greens and blues rival the colors of hummingbirds. But it is not just their colors that make beetles valuable. By recycling plant matter and dung, they also play a vital role in maintaining the health of ecosystems.
Insect Jewelry
Beetle collectors are not the only ones who prize these insect jewels. In the Americas, some women make necklaces by stringing together colorful beetle wing covers. In parts of Mexico, jewel beetles—aptly named—are outfitted with glued-on bits of colored glass and beads and turned into living brooches, tethered to their owner’s clothing with a short chain.
Whether you prefer to admire beetles from afar or to examine them close up, these living jewels vividly demonstrate the fascinating beauty and complexity of earth’s creatures.
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Leaf Beetles
Some beetles, though beautiful, can be pests. Leaf beetles, for example, devour the leaves, stems, and roots of a wide variety of plants and crops.
Although there are about 25,000 species of leaf beetles, for many farmers the name may bring to mind only one—the Colorado potato beetle. Settlers in North America first recognized this beetle as a threat to their potato crops in 1859. By the early 20th century, the beetle had invaded Europe, and now it has spread across that continent and into Asia.
Because of its ability to develop resistance to insecticides, the Colorado potato beetle has been a formidable foe. Today, a combination of agricultural, biological, and chemical tactics are employed to hold these voracious leaf-eaters at bay.
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Colorado potato beetle, U.S.A.
[Credit Line]
Scott Bauer/Agricultural Research Service, USDA
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Beetle Champions
▪ Beetles hold the record for insect longevity. Although most insects live for less than a year, some jewel beetles live to be more than 30 years old, and one is on record as having reached the ripe old age of 47. Jewel beetles “lay their eggs under the bark of a living tree” explains The Guinness Book of Animal Records. “If the tree is felled, it is not unusual for some of the larvae to survive and then be transported around the world in timber; since some species take many years to reach maturity, the adults may eventually emerge from furniture.”
▪ Goliath beetles of tropical Africa are the heavyweight champions of the insect world. Some males can weigh up to 3.5 ounces [100 grams], three times the weight of a house mouse.
▪ The award for the strongest weight lifter of the animal world (in proportion to size) goes to the rhinoceros beetle of the Dynastinae subfamily. This sturdy creature can support 850 times its own weight.
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Goliath beetle, Democratic Republic of Congo
[Credit Line]
Faunia, Madrid
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Rhinoceros beetle, Equatorial Guinea
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Jewel scarab beetle, Mexico
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Jewel scarab beetle, Honduras
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Jewel scarab beetle, Costa Rica
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Long-horned beetle, Indonesia
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Scarab beetle, Thailand
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Metallic wood-boring beetle, Thailand
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Metallic wood-boring beetle, Hungary
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Jewel scarab beetle, Honduras
[Picture Credit Lines on page 16]
Top left and middle: © David Hawks; right: © Barbara Strnadova/Photo Researchers, Inc.
[Picture Credit Lines on page 17]
Top left to right: First three: Faunia, Madrid; fourth: Gyorgy Csoka, Hungary Forest Research Institute, www.insectimages.org; fifth: © Barbara Strnadova/Photo Researchers, Inc.