sb. pl. Zool. Rarely in sing. coleopteron; see also prec. [mod.L. (neut. pl.), a. Gr. κολεόπτερος sheath-winged (f. κολεός sheath + πτερόν wing), used by Aristotle to describe insects of the beetle kind.] A large and important order of insects, distinguished by having the anterior pair of wings converted into elytra or hard sheaths which cover the other pair when not in use; the Beetles. (See BEETLE sb.2 1.)
1763. Dict. Arts & Sc., I. 659. Coleoptera … an order of insects … known in English by the general name of beetles.
1873. Geikie, Gt. Ice Age, xxvii. 375. Some of the coleoptera described would seem to be now extinct.
1875. W. Houghton, Sk. Brit. Insects, 155. The Strepsipteron has certain characters in common with a Coleopteron.
b. Formerly applied to the elytra of beetles.
(Spelt coleoptra in Kirby and Spence.)
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., xlvi. IV. 333. Explanat. Terms, Coleoptra, the two elytra spoken of together. Ibid., xlviii. IV. 439. The older naturalists … would call it ‘the coccinella with red coleoptra, having seven black dots.’
