Beetles, Coleoptera, are by far the most diverse order of insects. It has been estimated the fully half of all animal species are beetles. Beetles were just as common millions of years ago as they are today so they are often found in amber.

Beetles (coleoptera) are the largest group of insects and perhaps the largest animal group of all. It is generally accepted that there are about 500,000 known species of beetles and the total number of species be 10 times that many! Beetles vary greatly in shape from dome like (such as ladybugs) to long and skinny and just about everything in between. They also vary in size from the almost microscopic Nanosella fungi (101 laid end to end would measure just an inch!) to monstrous species such as the "June bug" and the goliath beetle. They can be just about any solid color or can have spots, stripes, blotches or speckles.

This specimen is a rather plain brown color, which probably helped it to blend in with the tree is was crawling on when it got trapped in the resin that later fossilized to become this piece of amber.