Beetle
In ancient cultures
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Several species of dung beetle, especially the sacred scarab, Scarabaeus sacer, were revered in Ancient Egypt.[151][152] The hieroglyphic image of the beetle may have had existential, fictional, or ontologic significance.[153] Images of the scarab in bone, ivory, stone, Egyptian faience, and precious metals are known from the Sixth Dynasty and up to the period of Roman rule. The scarab was of prime significance in the funerary cult of ancient Egypt.[154] The scarab was linked to Khepri, the god of the rising sun, from the supposed resemblance of the rolling of the dung ball by the beetle to the rolling of the sun by the god.[151] Some of ancient Egypt's neighbors adopted the scarab motif for seals of varying types. The best-known of these are the Judean LMLK seals, where eight of 21 designs contained scarab beetles, which were used exclusively to stamp impressions on storage jars during the reign of Hezekiah.[155] Beetles are mentioned as a symbol of the sun, as in ancient Egypt, in Plutarch's 1st century Moralia.[156] The Greek Magical Papyri of the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD describe scarabs as an ingredient in a spell.[157]
Pliny the Elder discusses beetles in his Natural History,[158] describing the stag beetle: "Some insects, for the preservation of their wings, are covered with an erust (elytra)—the beetle, for instance, the wing of which is peculiarly fine and frail. To these insects a sting has been denied by Nature; but in one large kind we find horns of a remarkable length, two-pronged at the extremities, and forming pincers, which the animal closes when it is its intention to bite."[159][160] The stag beetle is recorded in a Greek myth by Nicander and recalled by Antoninus Liberalis in which Cerambus[b] is turned into a beetle: "He can be seen on trunks and has hook-teeth, ever moving his jaws together. He is black, long and has hard wings like a great dung beetle".[161] The story concludes with the comment that the beetles were used as toys by young boys, and that the head was removed and worn as a pendant.[160][162]
As pests
About 75% of beetle species are phytophagous in both the larval and adult stages. Many feed on economically important plants and stored plant products, including trees, cereals, tobacco, and dried fruits.[7] Some, such as the boll weevil, which feeds on cotton buds and flowers, can cause extremely serious damage to agriculture. The boll weevil crossed the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas, to enter the United States from Mexico around 1892,[163] and had reached southeastern Alabama by 1915. By the mid-1920s, it had entered all cotton-growing regions in the US, traveling 40 to 160 miles (60–260 km) per year. It remains the most destructive cotton pest in North America. Mississippi State University has estimated, since the boll weevil entered the United States, it has cost cotton producers about $13 billion, and in recent times about $300 million per year.[163]
The bark beetle, elm leaf beetle and the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis)[164] are among the species that attack elm trees. Bark beetles (Scolytidae) carry Dutch elm disease as they move from infected breeding sites to healthy trees. The disease has devastated elm trees across Europe and North America.[165]
Some species of beetle have evolved immunity to insecticides. For example, the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is a destructive pest of potato plants. Its hosts include other members of the Solanaceae, such as nightshade, tomato, eggplant and capsicum, as well as the potato. Different populations have between them developed resistance to all major classes of insecticide.[166] The Colorado potato beetle was evaluated as a tool of entomological warfare during World War II, the idea being to use the beetle and its larvae to damage the crops of enemy nations.[167] Germany tested its Colorado potato beetle weaponisation program south of Frankfurt, releasing 54,000 beetles.[168]
The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum (Ptinidae), is a serious pest of older wooden buildings in Europe. It attacks hardwoods such as oak and chestnut, always where some fungal decay has taken or is taking place. The actual introduction of the pest into buildings is thought to take place at the time of construction.[169]
Other pests include the coconut hispine beetle, Brontispa longissima, which feeds on young leaves, seedlings and mature coconut trees, causing serious economic damage in the Philippines.[170] The mountain pine beetle is a destructive pest of mature or weakened lodgepole pine, sometimes affecting large areas of Canada.[171]
As beneficial resources
Beetles can be beneficial to human economics by controlling the populations of pests. The larvae and adults of some species of lady beetles (Coccinellidae) feed on aphids that are pests. Other lady beetles feed on scale insects, whitefly and mealybugs.[172] If normal food sources are scarce, they may feed on small caterpillars, young plant bugs, or honeydew and nectar.[173] Ground beetles (Carabidae) are common predators of many insect pests, including fly eggs, caterpillars, and wireworms.[174] Ground beetles can help to control weeds by eating their seeds in the soil, reducing the need for herbicides to protect crops.[175] The effectiveness of some species in reducing certain plant populations has resulted in the deliberate introduction of beetles in order to control weeds. For example, the genus Calligrapha is native to North America but has been used to control Parthenium hysterophorus in India and Ambrosia artemisiifolia in Russia.[176][177]
Dung beetles (Scarabidae) have been successfully used to reduce the populations of pestilent flies, such as Musca vetustissima and Haematobia exigua which are serious pests of cattle in Australia.[178] The beetles make the dung unavailable to breeding pests by quickly rolling and burying it in the soil, with the added effect of improving soil fertility, tilth, and nutrient cycling.[179] The Australian Dung Beetle Project (1965–1985), introduced species of dung beetle to Australia from South Africa and Europe to reduce populations of Musca vetustissima, following successful trials of this technique in Hawaii.[178] The American Institute of Biological Sciences reports that dung beetles, such as Euoniticellus intermedius, save the United States cattle industry an estimated US$380 million annually through burying above-ground livestock feces.[180]
The Dermestidae are often used in taxidermy and in the preparation of scientific specimens, to clean soft tissue from bones.[181] Larvae feed on and remove cartilage along with other soft tissue.[182][183]
As food and medicine
Beetles are the most widely eaten insects, with about 344 species used as food, usually at the larval stage.[184] The mealworm (the larva of the darkling beetle) and the rhinoceros beetle are among the species commonly eaten.[185] A wide range of species is also used in folk medicine to treat those suffering from a variety of disorders and illnesses, though this is done without clinical studies supporting the efficacy of such treatments.[186]
As biodiversity indicators
Due to their habitat specificity, many species of beetles have been suggested as suitable as indicators, their presence, numbers, or absence providing a measure of habitat quality. Predatory beetles such as the tiger beetles (Cicindelidae) have found scientific use as an indicator taxon for measuring regional patterns of biodiversity. They are suitable for this as their taxonomy is stable; their life history is well described; they are large and simple to observe when visiting a site; they occur around the world in many habitats, with species specialised to particular habitats; and their occurrence by species accurately indicates other species, both vertebrate and invertebrate.[187] According to the habitats, many other groups such as the rove beetles in human-modified habitats, dung beetles in savannas[188] and saproxylic beetles in forests[189] have been suggested as potential indicator species.[190]
In art and adornment
Many beetles have durable elytra that has been used as material in art, with beetlewing the best example.[191] Sometimes, they are incorporated into ritual objects for their religious significance. Whole beetles, either as-is or encased in clear plastic, are made into objects ranging from cheap souvenirs such as key chains to expensive fine-art jewellery. In parts of Mexico, beetles of the genus Zopherus are made into living brooches by attaching costume jewelry and golden chains, which is made possible by the incredibly hard elytra and sedentary habits of the genus.[192]
In entertainment
Fighting beetles are used for entertainment and gambling. This sport exploits the territorial behavior and mating competition of certain species of large beetles. In the Chiang Mai district of northern Thailand, male Xylotrupes rhinoceros beetles are caught in the wild and trained for fighting. Females are held inside a log to stimulate the fighting males with their pheromones.[193] These fights may be competitive and involve gambling both money and property.[194] In South Korea the Dytiscidae species Cybister tripunctatus is used in a roulette-like game.[195]
Beetles are sometimes used as instruments: the Onabasulu of Papua New Guinea historically used the "hugu" weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus as a musical instrument by letting the human mouth serve as a variable resonance chamber for the wing vibrations of the live adult beetle.[194]
As pets
Some species of beetle are kept as pets, for example diving beetles (Dytiscidae) may be kept in a domestic fresh water tank.[196]
In Japan the practice of keeping horned rhinoceros beetles (Dynastinae) and stag beetles (Lucanidae) is particularly popular amongst young boys.[197] Such is the popularity in Japan that vending machines dispensing live beetles were developed in 1999, each holding up to 100 stag beetles.[198][199]
As things to collect
Beetle collecting became extremely popular in the Victorian era.[200] The naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace collected (by his own count) a total of 83,200 beetles during the eight years described in his 1869 book The Malay Archipelago, including 2,000 species new to science.[201]
As inspiration for technologies
Several coleopteran adaptations have attracted interest in biomimetics with possible commercial applications. The bombardier beetle's powerful repellent spray has inspired the development of a fine mist spray technology, claimed to have a low carbon impact compared to aerosol sprays.[202] Moisture harvesting behavior by the Namib desert beetle (Stenocara gracilipes) has inspired a self-filling water bottle which utilises hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials to benefit people living in dry regions with no regular rainfall.[203]
Living beetles have been used as cyborgs. A Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded project implanted electrodes into Mecynorhina torquata beetles, allowing them to be remotely controlled via a radio receiver held on its back, as proof-of-concept for surveillance work.[204] Similar technology has been applied to enable a human operator to control the free-flight steering and walking gaits of Mecynorhina torquata as well as graded turning, backward walking and feedback control of Zophobas morio.[205][206][207][208][209]
Research published in 2020 sought to create a robotic camera backpack for beetles. Miniature cameras weighing 248 mg were attached to live beetles of the Tenebrionid genera Asbolus and Eleodes. The cameras filmed over a 60° range for up to 6 hours.[210][211]
In conservation
Beetle damage
Both larvae and adults of beetles can cause damage to crops. The larvae of some species feed on growing tips and roots or chew and bore into stems, but in other species also feed on leaves. Adult beetles cause damage by feeding on fruits, flower buds and leaves depending on the species..." (Beetles - Biocontrol, Damage and Life Cycle)
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Relevant Material: "Populations of Douglas-fir beetle normally persist in an endemic state, unable to overcome the defences of healthy trees. They are restricted to larger, windthrown, damaged, and moribund trees, with relatively slow growth rates. Trees scorched by fire are also more susceptible to attack. There is evidence that insect defoliation (e.g., Douglas-fir tussock moth [Orgyia pseudotsugata]) predisposes trees to attack by Douglas-fir beetle. A strong association has been noted between successful colonization by beetles and the presence of root rots, such as Armillaria ostoyae and Phellinus weirii. Both of these conditions also reduce tree vigour and increase windfall, contributing more material for beetle brood. In situations where there is an abundance of susceptible material, beetle populations will increase to outbreak levels. However, successful colonization of live trees still requires mass attacks by many beetles.
Early detection is problematic because discoloration of foliage may not occur until the year after attack. Douglas-fir beetle adults tend to attack the least vigorous trees, so resin flow from attack sites is often not present. Adults are 4 to 7 millimetres long. They are very dark brown, with reddish wing coverings (elytra). Attacks occur first at the upper mid-bole of trees and progress both upward and downward from the original site. Earliest evidence of successful attack is reddish boring dust on the bark of the tree near entrance holes. Resin streams flowing from these entrance holes are diagnostic. Beetles introduce blue-stain fungi (Ophiostoma pseudotsugae and Leptographium abietinum), which discolour the sapwood, interrupt water transport, and assist the beetle in overcoming the defences of living trees. Female beetles lay up to about 40 elliptical, pearly white eggs that are 1 to 1.5 millimetres long. The eggs are laid in excavated galleries that are mostly straight and parallel to the grain of the wood, and at least 20 to 30 centimetres long. Larvae are legless, white grubs with brown heads. The grubs can be up to 6 millimetres in length when full grown. The larvae tunnel through the phloem away from their egg sites, producing fan-shaped groups of tunnels on either side of egg galleries. Pupal cells are formed at the end of the feeding tunnels. Pupae are white and have rudimentary adult features.
Foliage discoloration from green to pale yellow-green can occur late in the season of the original attacks. Most attacks, however, are not evident until the following spring. Needles turn red and remain on trees for 2 years before falling..." (Douglas-fir beetle)
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Relevant Material: "Before 1993, the mountain pine beetle was just another insect lost amid British Columbia's rich forests. But for the past decade, the burrowing beetle's population has exploded, its infestation of forests in B.C.'s Central Interior continuing unabated as it wipes out growths of the mature lodgepole pine trees so important to the province's lumber industry.
In 2006 alone, 9.2 million hectares of forest were in an advanced stage of attack from the mountain pine beetle. By the end of 2006, the cumulative outbreak area affected was estimated at 130,000 square kilometres, or close to the total area of England. Timber losses are estimated to be more than 435 million cubic metres, with additional losses outside the commercial forest, according to Natural Resources Canada.
The damage done to the trees has the forestry industry in a race to get as much from the pine as it can before the trees die in the aftermath of the beetle attacks. It also has officials concerned as the beetle spreads eastward to northern Alberta, on the doorstep of the jack-pine-dominated boreal forest.
In B.C., the provincial government estimates the beetle's spread will have economic implications for 30 communities and will impact 25,000 families whose livelihood depends on the pulp and paper industry.
The beetle's damage to the forests has even had an impact on the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according to Natural Resources Canada. The death of trees normally involved in capturing carbon has instead released carbon into the atmosphere, according to a study published in April 2008 in the journal Nature..." (CBC News In Depth: Science)
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Relevant Insurance Coverage: Note: Many if not all Insurance companies do not provide Insurance coverage against damage caused by insects or pests
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