Page 155 - NT 2022 Almanac

You might think there isn’t much to see outside this month. However,
if you look down and look closely, you’ll see there’s a whole mini world beneath your feet, beetling about in the undergrowth! Beetles are easy to recognise because their front wings look like hard shells which cover their second pair of wings. Remember to ask an adult before you go digging around in flower beds, and always return the beetles to the soil where you found them and wash your hands afterwards.
You will need:
Pots with see-through plastic lids
Skewer
Paper or card
Magnifying glass
Pencil and/or coloured crayons
1 Prepare the pots for the insects by making breathing holes in the lids. Ask an adult to help you do this with a skewer.
2 Go and hunt for beetles! Look in gardens, parks, woods or even in plant pots on windowsills. They like to hide in cool, damp places. Move stones and look closely at flowers, leaves, tree stumps and soil.
3 Collect any beetles you find by carefully using a piece of paper or card to pick them up.
4 Put the beetles in the pots. (Try not to mix up different sorts of beetle, just in case they try to eat each other!)
5 Have a look at the beetles using your magnifying glass.
6 If it’s easier to see, put the beetles on a clean piece of paper to examine them.
7 Draw a picture of them if you like and label them if you know what they are.
8 Ask yourself: how many legs do they have? What colours are they?
Do they have any patterns on them? What do their faces look like?
How do they defend themselves?
154