There are 100's of types of beetles.
They all have strong mouths to help them eat. Some beetles eat other insects and some beetles only eat plants.
All beetles have hard wings covering their backs, many of them also have soft wings for flying which they hide away under these hard outside wings.
Did you know that Ladybirds are beetles?
There is 43 different types of ladybird in Britain. They are usually bright red but sometimes we see yellow ones.
In Britain, ladybirds sleep through the winter. In the spring, ladybirds lay eggs (some of them lay 3 eggs, some of them lay 300!!!!!) next to lots of greenflies. The eggs hatch in 1 week and the babies start eating the greenflies. Ladybirds live about one year.

The Ladybird life cycle is similar in many species, the adults overwinter often in large groups in any place they can find that is dry and if possible out of the wind. Breeding generally begins in May, but is dependant on the weather, and in most cases the presence of food. Egg laying continues on into July with each female laying as many as 1 000 eggs in some species. Many of the carnivorous species lay their eggs near aphids, ensuring their young a supply of food . Eggs take about 4 days to hatch depending on temperature, ranging from 10.3 days at 15C to 1.8 days at 35C.

Sometimes, Ladybirds have seven spots, and sometimes they have five spots. You may not               know that Ladybirds are beetles, but they are.

Ladybirds are small, brightly coloured beetles. We often find them munching away on the greenflies that live on our roses. People who like gardening like ladybirds because they eat all the bad bugs.