Meet the animals!
Beetles
Beetles are an amazing group of insects that form the order that are called Coleoptera. They make up 25% of ALL known animal life forms...That's a lot of beetles! They are found in all types of habits on earth, but not in the sea, or the polar regions. I am utterly fascinated by them, but have never kept them before. The big, exciting species tend to be very expensive and short lived so I am feeling my way with them. I have two grubs at the moment and if I am successful with them I may move onto even bigger species.
Beetles are endopterygotes, which means that they undergo complete metamorphosis, a process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, undergoing a series of conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in their body structure (egg/small larvae, medium larvae, big larvae/pupa/adult). This could mean completely different looking animals at different stages. Coleopteran species have an extremely intricate behaviour when mating, using such methods as pheromones for communication to locate a mate.
Fascinating fact: Giant beetles are very popular as pets in Japanese cities, where space is at a premium (due to the fairly small cage required compared to other pets, and the lack of noise or smell). They are sometimes pitted against each other in fights and bets are placed! The fights are based on opponents pushing each other out of a 'ring' rather than injuring each other as owners are very attached to their pets and they are extremely expensive to replace (well that's what I'm hoping!).
Beetles are endopterygotes, which means that they undergo complete metamorphosis, a process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, undergoing a series of conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in their body structure (egg/small larvae, medium larvae, big larvae/pupa/adult). This could mean completely different looking animals at different stages. Coleopteran species have an extremely intricate behaviour when mating, using such methods as pheromones for communication to locate a mate.
Fascinating fact: Giant beetles are very popular as pets in Japanese cities, where space is at a premium (due to the fairly small cage required compared to other pets, and the lack of noise or smell). They are sometimes pitted against each other in fights and bets are placed! The fights are based on opponents pushing each other out of a 'ring' rather than injuring each other as owners are very attached to their pets and they are extremely expensive to replace (well that's what I'm hoping!).