Of Earth's 350,000-plus species of beetles, many serve as the planet's cleanup crew by getting rid of waste matter and decaying wood. Others operate as ever-important pollinators. Some beetles are plant-eating pests and still others are carnivores—predators that feast on other members of the insect clan. Beetles also serve as prey, being readily consumed by everything from birds to snakes. Their sheer numbers, not to mention their myriad roles in nature's food web, make them important insects. Beetles and weevils are in the insect order Coleoptera, meaning "sheath wing"—an appropriate name due to their thick exoskeleton and hardened, protective forewings. Those that are destructive in gardens tend to be the herbivorous, or plant-eating, species. Pest beetles can be controlled by covering susceptible crops with protective row covers, hand-picking both adults and larvae, timing crops to avoid peak insect activity, and, when necessary, applying spinosad-based organic pesticides according to label instructions.
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