Chapter One
A Question of Numbers

"Biologists will never be sure that they have found and named every last species on earth.
But they have a long way to go before they can even wonder."
Nigel Stork and Kevin Gaston - New Scientist, 1990

Beetles, the largest group of insects, representing a fifth of all living organisms and a fourth of all animals, epitomize diversity. Nearly every biological strategy used by terrestrial animal life is represented in this remarkable group of animals that arose during the lower Permian period, about 240 million years ago. Since that time beetles have evolved into nature's single most astounding array of color and form. Their diversity, which eloquently extends beyond the physical, encompassing strategies of behavior, defense, reproduction, and adaptation, has been appreciated since the time of the Egyptian Pharoahs.

	Aristotle described beetles as insects that have wing cases and thus named them Coleoptera, from the Greek koleon, "sheath", and pteron, "wing". The first pair of flight wings are thickened, protecting the delicate membranous hind wings and the abdomen below, as shown above by a female Goliathus regius from Zaire.
Approximately two-thirds of the known beetle species reside in just eight families, including the Buprestidae (to the right). The buprestids, commonly known as metallic wood boring or jewel beetles, are popular with collectors because of their metallic, streamlined bodies.

Beetles are the largest group of animals, representing a fifth of all known living organisms and a fourth of all animals.

Nearly one quarter of all beetles are weevils, family Curculionidae, represented above by Eupholus bennetti from Papua New Guinea.

A small leaf beetle from southern Africa has a black & green color pattern that blends into the similar pattern of the Acacia leaves.