Beetle Minibeast Adventure with Jess

BIRDSONG

Hello, adventurers. I'm Jess!

It's time for a Minibeast Adventure!

# Feelers out! What's about?

# Creeping, sleeping Under stones, here and there

# Nesting, resting Minibeasts are everywhere

# Minibeasts are everywhere

# Look and listen Stop and stare

# Minibeasts are everywhere

# A Minibeast Adventure

# Feelers out! What's about?

# Minibeasts are everywhere

# Look and listen Stop and stare

# Mini-worlds for us to share A Minibeast Adventure! #

With Jess!

Welcome to my tree house.

Today, we're having a beetle adventure.

Beetles are incredible!

There are thousands of different types of beetle

and they live all over the world.

In fact, one quarter of all the animals on Earth are beetles.

That means that when you think of all the creatures on Earth,

one in every four of them is a beetle!

isn't that amazing?

Let's have a look at some of them.

Beetles have a hard shell like armour.

And as they are insects, they have six legs.

They have antennae, which they use to smell the world around them.

And they're not all black,

beetles come in many colours... and shapes!

Under its shiny shell it has wings

which it keeps tucked away until it wants to fly.

Have you ever seen a ladybird flying about?

Well, ladybirds are beetles too.

Some types of beetle prefer to stay on the ground,

even though they have wings they don't like to fly at all.

They like to live amongst dead leaves and in dark, damp places.

Well, if one out of every four animals is a beetle,

then there must be one living near you.

Shall we go and find one?

Come on!

Whatever the weather, we're off together on a Minibeast Adventure!

-Hi, Jess.

-Hi, Jess.

-Hi, Teddy. Hi, Josh.

I'm so glad you're here,

because today we're off on a beetle adventure.

-BOTH:

-Yay!

-Have you seen a beetle before?

-I have.

Where do you think we might find some?

-On the ground.

-In the trees.

-In the trees, on the ground.

Let's go, then. Get your feelers ready.

ALL: # Feelers out What's about?

# We're off on a Minibeast Adventure! #

ALL: Yeah!

JESS LAUGHS

This looks like a great place to look for beetles, doesn't it?

Can you have a look underneath if I lift these up?

-Yeah.

-Oh, look, I found one!

-What's that?

-A spider.

-It's like a spider.

-Whoa!

-It isn't a spider actually,

-it's called a harvestman.

-Harvestman?

-Whoa! Shall we keep looking for beetles?

-Yeah.

So let's put him back and see if we can find one.

Ohh, there's a spider web under there.

-Look.

-This one?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Oh, look!

-Got it!

-Wow! Look at that.

-It's not moving.

Oh! It is now. Oh, it's so fast!

Wow! What does that look like?

-A centipede?

-It's got a lot less legs than a centipede, hasn't it?

-Ants.

-It looks like a really big ant, you're right.

-Josh?

-Yeah.

-You see this kit bag on my back?

-Can you get something out of that pocket?

-I'll get it. What, here? Oh!

You've got a magnifying glass, you can look at it carefully with that.

-I can see it.

-If we put the beetle in there...

-we can look at it really well.

-I can open it.

And...in it goes!

-Yes!

-Yes!

-Wow!

-We got it, Josh!

Isn't that cool?

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Six legs like all insects.

He's got some spikes on his legs.

There's a really cool thing they do with the hairs on their legs,

they can feel the sensations of where other animals are.

Do the hairs on your legs tell you that?

No. What do you think it's got under this shell here?

-Er...wings.

-Wings! Beetles do have wings under their shells.

-They're his bones.

-His bones?

-Yeah.

You're right, they are his bones.

-We have our skeletons inside our bodies.

-But you can't see 'em.

You can't see them. Can you see this beetle's skeleton?

-Yeah.

-Where's its skeleton?

-Inside its body.

-No!

-Outside.

Josh is completely right! Beetles' skeletons are outside their bodies.

That black thing on the edge that's all his skeleton.

-Isn't that weird?

-Yeah.

How sharp are your teeth?

You can use them to take a big bite out of an apple.

But a beetle's teeth are so sharp, it can bite right through wood!

WOOD CREAKS LAUGHTER

Minibeasts are everywhere all the time.

But sometimes it can be really hard to see them.

One of the best ways that you can find them

is by making a tumble trap for them to tumble into.

We're making one here. I've dug a hole

for Teddy to put this clean yoghurt pot into.

Can you put that in for me, Teddy?

Perfect!

So the insects can walk along here and tumble into the trap.

Now, we don't want them to spot it straightaway

and if the rain comes down, we don't want the insects to die.

So, Josh, you're going to put a stone on the top, aren't you?

Perfect! Just with a little bit of hole,

so there's enough space for them to crawl underneath.

I made a tumble trap this morning. Shall we see what's in it?

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

-Come on, then. Over there.

Here it is.

-Shall we see what we've got?

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

This is the stone that they climb underneath.

What have we got in this pot?

Let's put it in this tray and see what we've got.

-Have we got any beetles?

-Yeah.

-SHE GASPS

-Look! that's amazing!

-That's a massive one!

-This is called a...

-Rhino.

Oh, you are very close.

It is very closely related to a rhinoceros beetle,

in fact, it's in the same family

but this one is called a lesser stag beetle.

-I was close.

-You were really close!

-What about the big one?

-This one?

-Yeah.

This one is a rove beetle, and they're really, really fast.

They have this trick that they do when they're scared,

they put up their back like a scorpion.

-I can catch it.

-What about if you put your hand next to mine?

-I nearly lost it.

-JOSH LAUGHS

-There you go.

-Hurray!

-Whoa!

-SHE LAUGHS

What's this one in such a rush to get to?

-Home?

-Home!

-Home, sweet home.

-Oh, it's going up your sleeve!

-ALL LAUGH

Why did he go up your sleeve? That was silly!

But they like dark places cos they live under stones.

-They were living in that dark trap.

-He likes Josh's hair.

-He does like Josh's hair.

-TEDDY LAUGHS

When we make a tumble trap, we only leave it for a few hours,

so the insects fall in, we have a look at them

and then put them back with their friends.

Look!

I loved that Minibeast Adventure.

We found lots of things in our trap.

Maybe you could go on a beetle adventure.

There's a chance one's living near you.

You could even make your own tumble trap.

If you do, you must remember to take it away afterwards,

so nothing gets stuck in it.

# Feelers out! What's about? #

Happy hunting, adventurers!