Beetle Life Cycle: Curious Facts On Insect Development For Kids!

Every insect in our environment goes through the same life cycle.

Beetles are no different. Their development process is one of the curious and fascinating patterns found in nature and wildlife.

They start their journey as an egg, turn into a larva or grub, grow into a pupal, and finally become an adult beetle with a hard shell. In movies, you might have noticed the beetle sounds and other insects (like crickets) used as a backdrop sound.

Well, these sounds are mostly taken from inside forests with a lot of trees, grasses and plants.

Beetles are mostly seen outside during hot summer times. Larvae becoming adult beetles come out of the soil, find food and mate in order to continue their generation.

After reading about beetle life, then why not learn some more fun facts with Kidadl? If you are interested, we recommend you read about green scarab beetle facts and bee life cycle.

How long do beetles live as adults?

Adult beetles can only live for 13-44 days after mating and laying eggs. Beetles take up to three years or more to grow into an adult from an egg. Adult beetles are seen with two sets of wings on their back.

Even though beetles grow for three years to become an adult, most beetles only live for one year due to factors like deforestation, urbanization, and climate changes.

The last stage of a beetle's life is the adult stage of the beetle life cycle. Every beetle species has four stages in its life.

The eggs stage, larvae stage, pupae stage, and then the adult stage. The young larvae and the pupae grow into adults in a complete metamorphosis process. A beetle’s metamorphosis and development continues from the egg to adult stage.

An adult beetle lives for very little time period the life cycle of beetles. Even though we can estimate a lifespan for insects like beetles, it can change due to external factors such as weather, human intervention, availability of forage, insecticides sprayed, and presence of diseases and parasites.

How long does it take for a grub to turn into a beetle?

Female insects of the beetle species lay and hatch their eggs in decaying leaves, animal feces, and even rotten wood. The females of the beetle species, after mating with male beetles, lay white or yellow eggs. These eggs hatch into the larval stage.

Female beetles lay between 40-60 eggs. Moist soil that is covered in grass is an ideal place which beetles choose for mating and laying eggs. Female beetles dig holes in the ground up to 3.9 in (10 cm) deep each time that they lay eggs in batches.

The grubs, once born, take almost a year to become pupa. These grubs feed on grasses and roots to turn into a grown beetle. They also eat organic matter in the soil for food.

These grubs are found under the soil as the female beetles lay eggs inside holes created in the ground in soil. These grubs eventually grow into adult beetles and come out of the soil to find a mate.

After mating, they lay eggs and the cycle continues. The pupal stage of beetles can last between 7-10 days. After that, they turn into adult beetles.

How many days do beetles live for?

Adult beetles only live for 13-44 days on average. Beetles can live for up to nine months or even three years depending on food and other environmental factors. Adult beetles are dark brown or black in color and are oval-shaped.

They feed on pollen and nectar from flowers and migrate indoors to lay eggs about a week after emergence. Splendor beetles are one of the beetles with the longest lifespan.

Their larvae can remain in this stage for more than 30 years! Another beetle with a long lifespan is the termite. Queen termites, known as Isoptera, have been recorded to have a lifespan of about 15 years.

How many stages does a beetle life cycle have?

The beetle life cycle has four stages. The complete life cycle of beetles is called metamorphosis. This process of complete metamorphosis is slow and normally has more than one stage.

As for beetles, the four stages of their life cycle are eggs, larval, pupal, and adult stage. Their life begins as eggs.

Female beetles lay their eggs in the soil during early spring or summer time. When the temperature becomes warm and apt, these eggs hatch. The eggs hatch within a few days after being laid.

The larvae or the grubs hatched are known to resemble a worm in the soil. They feed on grassroots under the soil as food. As they are small in size and lack strength, they are vulnerable to all the chemicals and biological sprays that people spray on their grounds to get rid of insects and parasites.

If they survive these soil sprays, they grow into pupa. In its cocoon, the pupa slowly develops its legs, wings, antennae, and other organs.

At this stage, the pupa does not show much motion. After the larval stage and pupal stage, these bugs grow into adult beetles. The pupal stage is believed to last for 7-10 days in a beetles' life cycle.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for beetle life cycle: curious facts on insect development for kids!

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