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noun-plural. An order of insects having the anterior pair of wings (elytra) hard and horny, and serving as coverings for the posterior pair, which are membranous, and folded transversely under the others when not in use. The mouth parts form two pairs of jaws (mandibles and maxillæ) adapted for chewing. Most of the Coleoptera are known as beetles and weevils.

An order of Hexapoda, or of the class Insecta proper, having the posterior pair of membranous wings sheathed by the hardened anterior pair called elytra, which when folded together usually form a nearly complete covering of the body; the sheath-winged insects or beetles.

n. Plural of coleopteron.

n. beetles

"The green beetle can be both green and a member of the coleoptera, just as a writer such as Melville can be a world traveler and influenced by the German Romantics, but also the author of a book that forms one of the gigantic foundation stones of "American Literature.""

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scarabaei    radiata    gadflies    life-period    crustacea