These two wing-covers fit close to each other over the beetle’s back. When he flies he lifts them away from the wings. When you take off these covers you will see lying under the cases a pair of neatly folded wings. These wings are made much as Mrs. Wasp’s are. [Illustration: Mr. Crab.] The cases are used for armor, not for flying. They are really a pair of wings. The fine silken under-wings are the pair with which beetles fly. There are some beetles that do not have this second pair, and so cannot fly. There are some that have the upper pair so short that they do not half cover the body. Beetles which do not have the lower wings creep from place to place. Watch a beetle as he crawls on the ground. Now see him! When his back flies open two bright-hued shells rise up. This crawling thing sweeps into the air on a pair of wide thin wings! The part of the beetle’s body that is under the wings has rings like those of the wasp. The body is made in the three parts insects have. The wings and six legs are fastened on what you would call the chest or middle part. The wings fastened on the upper or back part of the beetle’s chest fold down over the hind part of the body. On the end of the hind part is what is called “the egg-placer.” With that Mrs. Beetle lays her eggs in safe places. The legs and feet of the beetle are made in joints. They have hairs on them. The legs are so made and set that they cannot spread out as far as those of spiders, wasps, flies. Now here is Mr. Beetle’s head. It has two jaws and two feelers, the mouth, and the eyes. There is a little horn shield over the mouth. In fact, the whole beetle is in a snug horn coat. We may call this coat a suit of armor. The eyes of the beetle are like those of the fly. Very many eyes are set in what seem to be two big eyes. The beetle does not have three single eyes on the top of his head. Sometimes he has two small simple eyes at the back of his head. The splendid colors of Mr. Beetle are on his horn coat. I caught a beetle last night which had the under part of his breast covered with close hairs, so that it looked like velvet. He seemed to have on a rich brown velvet vest. LESSON XXIII. WHEN MR. BEETLE WAS YOUNG. In the lessons about the Ant, Fly, Wasp, Bee, and others, you have heard that the young insect makes three changes. First it is a small white or light-colored egg; then a fat, greedy larva; then a pupa. The insects you have thus far heard of, pass through all these changes in a short time. So do some of the young beetles. But there are beetles which spend one, two, three, even more, years, as eggs and grubs. The long part of the lives of these other insects comes after they get their wings. The short part of a beetle’s life generally comes after he is winged.