While this might look like the pattern on a quilt, this is actually a magnified image of the pattern on the hardened forewings of a beetle. These wings are not used for flying but instead protect the ...

beetles’ wings are tucked under rigid shell covers and need to be unfurled before flight, which is not instantaneous. If the bombardier beetle’s chemical cannon is not enough to immediately ...

When flying beetles close their hardened forewings (elytra) that protect the underlying flight wings, they have the elytra hitched on one pair of the jigsaw-shaped structures. Although the ...

DESCRIPTION: The Comal Springs riffle beetle is an aquatic, surface-dwelling species of about two millimeters in length, with females slightly larger than males. It is reddish brown in color and has ...

Yes, real ones! The wings of jewel beetles were used to decorate fabric. Emerald green wings became a symbol of high status in India during the Mughal period (1526-1756), and western traders ...

Here are some examples. The fogstand beetle lives in the Namib Desert, where the average rainfall is 14mm a year and survives by drinking the mist condensing on its wing cases. Gold and silver ...