Category:Beetles

Coleoptera or Beetles is an order of insects where most of them have two pairs of wings, but the front pair has become hardened and thickened into a sheath- or shell-like protective case known as the "elytra" to prevent injury to the more fragile rear wings. Interestingly, the celeoptera order includes more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms. About 40% of all described insect species are beetles (about 400,000 species), and new species are discovered frequently. Some estimates put the total number of species, described and undescribed, at as high as 100 million, but a figure of 1 million is more widely accepted. The largest taxonomic family, the Curculionidae (the weevils or snout beetles), also belongs to this order.