1. HOW to DRAW…..
a beetle in 20 steps

2. what you’ll need: piece of paper or sketch book
sharp pencil and a good eraser
straight edge ruler
note: some teachers may wish to demonstrate on a large sketchpad, a black/white board or with overhead transparencies.

3. scutellum, which is part of the meso-thorax
Step 1. Have students place paper vertically. In the center of the page, draw a small equilateral triangle, pointing down (towards bottom
of page).
note: teachers can also use this to discuss ‘triangles’. Also, although
it doesn’t yet look like a beetle:this triangle will become your beetle’s
scutellum, which is part of the meso-thorax
8 x 11.5 piece of paper

4. Step 2. Draw four straight lines
from your triangle as shown below. Two short lines, and two long lines. Notice that TWO lines originate at a right angle from the upper right corner of the triangle
note: teachers can also use this to discuss RIGHT ANGLES

5. Step 3. Connect the left short line
to the downward facing line with
a long curved line. Do the same
with the upper and right hand
lines.
these two shapes will become your beetle’s elytra

6. Step 4. add one more long curve
that originates to the right of the
triangle, and extends down,
curving towards the bottom-most
point.
this line defines a region that will become 2 parts in your finished drawing: (1) the metathorax and
(2) the abdomen

7. ADDED mathematical subject:
variables x x x x
teachers may wish to use variables to illustrate the similarities in some of the lengths.

8. Step 4. draw a longer line, parallel
to the long horizontal line drawn in
step 2. At the end, draw a curved
line down and back towards the
center of the page. The shape drawn
should look like the front of a canoe
or a blade.
this region will define the beetle’s flight or hind wing, also called the metathoracic wing.

9. Step 5. draw 5 parallel lines and
little circles above each one
as shown below.
these lines define the abdominal segments and the
circles are the spiracles

10. Step 6. draw a line, parallel to the top
of the original triangle (step 1) that
extends left almost (but not quite) to
the left hand edge of the drawing. Then
connect it to the upper left corner with a
curved line
the region defined by these two lines will be the prothorax

11. Step 7. The next few steps deal
with the beetle’s HEAD. To begin,
draw three horizontal parallel lines
above your drawing. The distance above
should be approximately equal to one side
of the original triangle and they
should be positioned directly over
the triangle from step 1.

12. Step 8. add two small ovals on
each side of the lower line drawn
in step 7. The ovals should connect
this line to the line drawn in step 6.
these two shapes will become your beetle’s compound eyes

13. Step 9. connect the parallel lines
drawn in step 7
these two trapezoids will become your beetle’s clypeus
and labrum

14. Step 10 (halfway there). Add two
zig-zag lines up from the top of the
beetle.

15. Step 11. Connect the zig zags to
the lines drawn in step 9 with two
curved lines.
these two shapes will become your beetle’s mandibles

16. Step 12. we’re going to focus in
on the head and add a set of
antennae and some palpi
start by adding two rectangles that
emerge from the head above the
compound eyes. Add a smaller
square or rectangle on top of each
these will be the first two segments
of the antennae.The larger segment
is the scape and the smaller one
is the pedicel

17. Step 12. we’re going to focus in
on the head and add a set of
antennae
start by adding two rectangles that
emerge from the head above the
compound eyes. Add a smaller
square or rectangle on top of each
these will be the first two segments
of the antennae.The larger segment
is the scape and the smaller one
is the pedicel

18. Step 13. beetle antennae are very
diverse – but most have 8-30 more
segments on each antennae. The
simplest one to draw is the filiform
antenna.
add a ‘tail’ like shape to the end of
each pedicel and then subdivide this
with lots of lines to make the
segments. repeat on other side.
this entire part of the antennae is
called the flagellum

19. Step 14. palpi. Under the mandible
of most insects (including beetles)
is a small pair of what look
like little antennae called
maxillary palpi
to add maxillary palpi- draw three
contiguous ovals between the
scape and the mandible.
this entire part of the antennae is
called the flagellum

20. Step 15. legs. All insect legs
have 6 legs, each with 6 parts.
But only 5 parts are usually
visible from above. We’re only
going to illustrate the LEFT legs
in this drawing.
each of these shapes is the femur
of one leg. The plural of femur
isn’t “femurs”…it’s: femora
draw three rectangular shapes
on the side of your beetle.

21. Step 16. now add a longer
rectangular to each of these
each of these is the tibia of one leg.

22. Step 17. on each tibia, we add
5 rectangles or ovals, that look
like beads on a string.
each of these strings is a tarsus
and each segment (bead) is a tarsomere

23. Step 18. on each tarsus, add
two little claws
each claw is called a pretarsus or tarsal claw

24. Step 19. add parallel lines to
elytra
grooves on the elytra are called striae

25. Step 20. (optional) add remaining
legs.

26. YOU’RE DONE!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS
YOU HAVE DRAWN
A BEETLE!!!!

27. step 1. draw a light
vertical line about 1”
from the RIGHT edge
of you piece of paper.
we’re going to erase this
line in the next step

28. erase these letters at the end..so do them lightly).
add 13 horizontal lines
beginning about 1”
from top and about ½”
apart.
NOW erase the line from
the preceding step
lightly letter these
‘A’through ‘M’ (we’ll
erase these letters at the
end..so do them lightly). A B C D E F G H I J K L M

29. draw a line from the outstretched elytron to line F and writeB C D E F G H I J K L M
Elytron

30. inside the outstretched wing
place the word ‘Wing’
inside the outstretched
wing A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Elytron
Wing

31. draw a line from one eye to line C and write ‘compound eye’ A B C D EG H I J K L M
Compound Eye
Elytron
Wing

32. right mandible to line A and write ‘mandible’
draw a line from the
right mandible to line A
and write ‘mandible’ A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Compound Eye
Elytron
Wing

33. right mandible to line A and write ‘mandible’
draw a line from the
right mandible to line A
and write ‘mandible’ A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Compound Eye
Elytron
Wing

34. right mandible to line A and write ‘mandible’
draw a line from the
right mandible to line A
and write ‘mandible’ A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Elytron
Wing

35. Either write the word ‘Pronotum’ inside the region to the left of the
elytron OR draw a line
to line D and write the
word ‘Pronotum’ there. A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
Pronotum
Elytron
Wing

36. central triangle to line E, and write ‘Scutellum’
draw a line from the
central triangle to line
E, and write ‘Scutellum’ A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
Scutellum
Elytron
Wing

37. Metanotum will go in line G with a line drawn to the region directly
right of the central
triangle A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
Scutellum
Elytron
Wing
Metanotum

38. Metanotum will go in line G with a line drawn to the region directly
right of the central
triangle A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
Scutellum
Elytron
Wing
Metanotum
Abdominal segments

39. Metanotum will go in line G with a line drawn to the region directly
right of the central
triangle A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
Scutellum
Elytron
Wing
Metanotum
Spiracle
Abdominal segments

40. little segments leading to line L these are labeled: Femur (J),
The parts of the leg
can all be done at once
with a line to the
top segment going to
J, the next to K, the claws
at the bottom to M and
then a bracket for the
little segments leading
to line L
these are labeled: Femur (J),
Tibia (K), Tarsus (L) &
Tarsal Claw (M) A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
Scutellum
Elytron
Wing
Metanotum
Spiracle
Abdominal segments
Femur Tibia Tarsus Tarsal Claw

41. Body regions are denoted by large square brackets as shown here.F G H I J K L M
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
HEAD
Scutellum
Elytron
THORAX
Wing
Metanotum
Spiracle
ABDOMEN
Abdominal segments
Femur Tibia Tarsus Tarsal Claw

42. last step is to erase the letters we put on the lines
to the right…and the lines
themselves if you like
you now have a scientific
illustration of generalized
beetle anatomy!!!
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
HEAD
Scutellum
Elytron
THORAX
Wing
Metanotum
Spiracle
ABDOMEN
Abdominal segments
Femur Tibia Tarsus Tarsal Claw

43. A legend can be added to to finish it off Scientific Illustration
Mandible
Maxillary palpus
Antenna
Compound Eye
Pronotum
HEAD
Scutellum
Elytron
THORAX
Wing
Metanotum
Spiracle
ABDOMEN
Abdominal segments
Femur Tibia Tarsus Tarsal Claw
Scientific Illustration
Beetle Anatomy (dorsal view)
Student Name September, 2009