1. Invertebrates
4. Beetles and Ants

2. Imagine a family with 300,000 relatives!
That is how many different kinds of beetles there are

3. The beetle family is bigger than any other animal family
Beetles are insects

4. Most beetles fly and have 2 pairs of wings
One pair is thin and light and used for flying

5. The outer wings of most beetles are brightly colored
The second pair is made of a hard material and protects the thin flying wings
The outer wings of most beetles are brightly colored

6. Beetles can live almost anywhere
Emerald Water Beetle
Some live in water, some on the ground, and some make their homes in the soil

7. You may know about some beetles like fireflies
You can see them on a summer night giving off a soft, green light

8. Ladybugs are beetles and are helpful to humans
They eat other insects that harm plants

9. Some beetles are pests (like teenagers)
They harm plants used for food

10. With their strong jaws, they can bite through plants
Japanese beetles destroy trees and crops

11. Other beetles feed on grain
Some beetles live in houses and feed on cloth, rugs, and food

12. Ants are insects that live in colonies
They make nests underground or in dead wood

13. One nest may hold a few ants or a million
A female ant, young ants, and workers live in each nest and each have a job to do

14. Ants that can mate have wings
The male and female fly into the air to mate, then the male dies!

15. The female loses her wings and lays eggs
The female is called a queen

16. Females that cannot mate are workers that bring food into the nest
They clean the nest and take care of the young

17. Some workers are soldiers and keep enemies out of the nest

18. Ants remember how things smell and feel
This helps them tell an enemy from a friend

19. It also helps them find the path to their nest
Ants know what is around them by touching things with two antennae (feelers) on their heads

20. One large eye made of hundreds of tiny eyes
Ants also have hundreds of tiny eyes that make up one large compound eye
Vocabulary:
Compound eye
One large eye made of hundreds of tiny eyes

21. Compound eyes help ants see what is moving around them

22. Army ants live in South America and the southern United States
They travel from place to place to find food

23. Army ants eat insects and spiders
But they can also kill and eat lizards or snakes!

24. Army ants do not build nests
When they stop to rest, millions of ants cling together in a huge ball

25. Each ant holds on to the legs of another ant.
Inside the ball are the queen and her young