Frank Carlson Library

Darkus Cuttle has taken care of his father ever since his mother died, but one day his father vanished from a locked vault at the Natural History Museum, and now he lives with his eccentric uncle--but one day he finds a large and unusually intelligent and self-aware beetle, and soon he and his two friends are caught up in a struggle to protect an intelligent super species of beetles.

After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Explains the characteristics, habits, life cycle, and appearance of the many species of beetles. Includes experiments.

Describes the habitat, life cycle, behavior, predators, and unique characteristics of beetles.

Discusses beetle weapons and how their horns and armor change to better suit them in different environments.

"Pairing two very unlike animals together for an imaginary fight, this book has readers comparing and contrasting the features of dung beetles and elephants"--