Observation and Description of Small and Large Animals - A Guide for Primary School Students' Extracurricular Observation and Description

Author: Xu Lu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: June beetles and rhinoceros beetles
June beetles look very cute, and children love to catch them to play. However, they are also major pests that harm plants. Female June beetles lay eggs in soft soil, and the eggs hatch into grubs underground. Grubs live underground and love to gnaw at the roots of crops. After four years, the grubs transform into June beetles and fly out of the ground, gnawing at the leaves, buds, and fruits of crops on the surface. Therefore, in the spring, farmers who sow seeds often mix in a little pesticide at the same time to eliminate the underground larvae of June beetles. June beetles in summer are unforgettable companions in children's childhood. Children often forget—or never know—that they are big pests.
Rhinoceros beetles are a strange type of small beetle. If you catch one and press its body with your finger, refusing to let it go, it will continuously tap its head up and down, making a "clap-clap" sound, as if begging for mercy. That's why people call it a "rhinoceros beetle." Rural children love to catch this small beetle and put it in an empty matchbox, where the sound of its head-tapping becomes particularly loud and crisp. Rhinoceros beetles also have a performance skill: If you flip it over so its belly is up, it will spring up like a carp doing a somersault, looking so agile and fun. The larvae of rhinoceros beetles are called wireworms, which live in the soil and feed exclusively on the roots and stems of crops, making them small pests as well. P3