Beetle anatomy

10

BEETLE ANATOMY

As in all insects, the body of an adult beetle is

divided into three distinct sections: the head,

thorax, and abdomen. The head is where the

mouthparts and the main sense organs (the

compound eyes and antennae) are based. The

thorax is the second division of the insect body,

between the head and the abdomen. In beetles,

the part of the thorax visible from above is the

pronotum, and this is often informally called the

thorax, but the whole thorax includes two more

parts, the mesonotum and metanotum, which are

usually covered by the elytra. This means they

are not visible from above, but can be seen on the

underside of the beetle or when the wings and

elytra are open for flight. The abdomen is the

third and final of the three sections of the insect

body, and attaches to the metathorax just after

the attachment point of the hind pair of legs.

Elytron

(plural:

elytra)

Compound eye

Head

Scutellum

Metanotum

Middle leg

Hind leg

Mesonotum

Abdominal

segments

Pronotum

Flight wing

Antenna

Fore leg

BODY AND STRUCTURE