wing-cases

The beetle stood full-square in the yellow centre of an ox-eye daisy eating its pollen, rays of white petals around him: Oedemera noblis, a thick-legged flower beetle of shiny metallic green with slightly parted elytra wing-cases and strangely thickened thighs on the rear pair of legs used in mating.

Country diary: Wenlock Edge 2010

A quarter of a mile farther along the tunnel opened into another, yet greater cave, and there every man kicked off his slippers, without seeming to trouble how they lay; they littered the floor unarranged and uncared for, looking like the cast-off wing-cases of gigantic beetles.

In The Time Of Light dj barber 2010

The effort being suddenly relaxed, the head and thorax flew up, and in consequence, the base of the wing-cases struck the supporting surface with such force, that the insect by the reaction was jerked upwards to the height of one or two inches.

Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle 2003

The same backward movement being continued, the spine, by the full action of the muscles, was bent like a spring; and the insect at this moment rested on the extremity of its head and wing-cases.

Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle 2003

The effort being suddenly relaxed, the head and thorax flew up, and in consequence, the base of the wing-cases struck the supporting surface with such force, that the insect by the reaction was jerked upwards to the height of one or two inches.

Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle 2003

The wing-cases present the characteristic grain and glint of fresh charcoal, distinctly showing the influence of the condition of its environment.

The Confessions of a Beachcomber 2003

The same backward movement being continued, the spine, by the full action of the muscles, was bent like a spring; and the insect at this moment rested on the extremity of its head and wing-cases.

Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle 2003

Patches of distemper and odd wing-cases flaked off at point of impact.

A Rude Awakening Aldiss, Brian 1978

The weird thing about it was its wing-cases; it looked as though it had sent them to the laundry and they had shrunk, for they were very small and appeared to have been constructed for a beetle half the size.

My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956

I toyed with the idea that it may have found itself without a pair of clean wing-cases to put on that morning and had to borrow its younger brother's pair, but I eventually decided that this idea, however enchanting, could not be described as scientific.

My Family and Other Animals Durrell, Gerald, 1925- 1956