Beetles, Order Coleoptera
By far the largest group of insects, or animals for that matter, on the planet. One in every five organisms on earth is a beetle. Just in North America alone, there are about 24,000 species from 113 different families. Almost every niche, from under water, to caves, inside trees, on top of mountains, the driest deserts and in your house lives various beetles. Some beetles can live up to 30 years and the smallest is microscopic and the largest are hand sized. Some, such as the Colorado Potato Beetle, have become pests of cultivated crops, and some, like tiger beetles, are great indicators of the quality of the environment.
