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Information
Beetles
have two prominent compound eyes, and antennea of various
shapes and sizes that arise between the eyes. There
are more than 300,000 known species of beetles in the
world, a number approximately equal to that of known
plant species. Most species of beetles can fly, most
do so only to cover short distances or to reach vegetation
close to the ground. The rest of their time is spent
crawling on or near the ground or on vegetation or swimming.
Both beetle larvae and adults are active predators eating
only aphids and other plant eating insects, such as
scales and mites. Both adults and larvae live on plants
frequented by aphids, including roses, oleander, milkweed
and broccoli. In the winter, the adults hibernate in
large groups, often in mountains at high elevations.
The female beetle lays eggs only where she knows aphids
are present.
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