Beetles — Order Coleoptera

“He has an inordinate fondness for beetles,” so the famous biologist, J.B.S. Haldane described God – a reference to the fact that there are more than 250,000 known species of beetles. Haldane would have come to a different conclusion if he had just sampled the Arctic! There are only 167 different beetles reported from the Arctic, and most of these are restricted to the southern tundra.

The most common types of arctic beetles include the predacious ground beetles (Family Carabidae), one species of which, Amara alpina, ventures into the High Arctic. The rove beetles (Family Staphylinidae), which are an extremely diverse group elsewhere, are also represented in the Arctic by more than a dozen species. These beetles are fast runners, with short wing-coverings (elytra) and long, narrow, flexible abdomens. A few species of pill beetles (Family Byrrhidae) – small round critters that live in moss or under stones – also occur in the Arctic. Leaf beetles (Family Chrysomelidae) have chewing mouthparts that are used to feed on plant material, as their common name indicates. Weevils (Family Curculionidae) are herbivores with long, distinctive snouts and, along with the leaf beetles, are restricted to the Low Arctic. The larva of a Lepyrus weevil lives in the soil, feeding on the roots of arctic willow, Salix sp. A few click beetles (Family Elateridae) – characterized by their snapping motion – and the familiar, brightly-coloured ladybird beetles (Family Coccinellidae) also occur as far north as the Low Arctic.