Rose chafer: external structure
An insect’s body has a head, thorax and abdomen, three pairs of legs and one pair of antennae; the legs and wings are on the thorax. The rose chafer (1–2 cm) is seen on flowers in spring and summer, glossy green above and reddish underneath, with a thick chitin shell. The head has an upper lip, a pair of upper and lower jaws and a lower lip; palps are touch and taste organs. The eyes are compound, each made of several thousand tiny units – mosaic vision; the fan-shaped antennae sense smell. The thorax has three segments; the 2nd and 3rd carry a pair of wings each. Hard elytra protect the hindwings and abdomen; in flight the chafer keeps its elytra closed and unfolds its hindwings through notches in them. The legs have five segments and claws and differ with the habitat: a grasshopper’s jump, a water beetle’s oars, a mole cricket’s digging legs. The abdomen has 8 segments and is joined firmly to the thorax.
Make a paper beetle (head, thorax, abdomen, 6 legs, 2 antennae, elytra and hindwings) and label the parts. Safety: use scissors with an adult’s help; do not hurt live insects.