Beverly Hahn, age 9, of Staten Island, New York, for her question:

What is a goliath beetle?

As we all know, Goliath was a mighty giant of Bible Days. So we would expect a goliath beetle to be a giant. And so he is. As a matter of fact, he holds the title of World's Largest Insect. Naturally he is not as big as the giant human Goliath    because compared with people, all the insects are very small creatures. Actually you could hold the goliath beetle in the palm of your hand. Though this might not be a good idea because he happens to have a long spikey beak and a pair of sharp pincers.

He is a wide, oblong beetle and from end to end he measures about four inches. For a giant, he is a rather handsome fellow. His crispy outfit is a soft, velvety shade of rusty brown. Across his shoulders he has a neat design of white lines and curves. The giant goliath beetle makes his home in Africa    and enjoys eating the tender greenery from the very top of a palm tree.