Seven-spot ladybird, Seven-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata) Genus Coccinella. Subfamily Coccinellinae. Family Ladybirds, ladybugs (Coccinellidae). 

In the Netherlands the most common ladybird. A red beetle, punctuated with three black spots on each elytron (is a modified, hardened forewing) , with one further spot being spread over the two elytra, making a total of seven spots. The pronotum is black with a white spot on the side.
Adult and larva feed on aphids. Length 6 - 8 mm . Europe, Asia, North-America. They are introduced to North America to reduce aphid numbers.

Flea beetle (Asiorestia)  Family leaf bee tles(Chrysomelidae) 

Flea beetle is a general name applied to the small, jumping beetles of the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae. Within this family are subfamilies. This little beetle belongs to the family  Asiorestia. (like Asiorestia transversa,  Asiorestia ferruginea) the differences  however are very small. You must examine this beetle, to be able to find the correct species.
They love young leaves. They can jump just like fleas. I see them often in June in the goldenrod

Corymbia rubra Leptura rubra and Stictoleptura rubra are former scientific names. They are still used. 

Native in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The males have yellowish-brown wing covers. The torax is black. The females (last 3 photographs) have  red wing covers. The torax is red too and it is larger. Just like most of the longhorn beetles it has long antennae,
The larvae of this beetle live for several years  in dead wood of pine and fir trees. Length :10-20 mm  

Dasytes cyaneus Family Dasytidae
It looks like a small longhorn beetle and has a dark blue metallic sheen. Legs and antennae are black. They have very fine and short hair. The antennae of the females are shorter than the antennae of the males
Here you see the Dasytes on a Trout Lily (Erythronium dens-canis). The photo was taken in April. Size 5 mm.The larvae are white, six-legged and hairy. They live in rotten wood and are predatory. The beetle emerges in spring. 
May to August. Europe (except north), North Africa.German: Blaue Wollhaarkäfer

Notiophilus spec. Family Ground beetles (Carabidae).

A small, dark, shiny bronze ground beetle. Length: 3,5 - 5,5 mm. 
They have large, conspicuous, bulbous eyes They use their stereoscopic vision to locate their prey.
They are found under rocks, leaves and moss. But during the day they sometimes run across the tiles on our terrace. They are difficult to photograph because they always run like other ground beetles.
There are many species. But they are difficult to determine. The third beetle is an other species.
Both adults and larvae are predatory. They feed on small insects, especially springtails.

Polydrusus sericeus  Subfamily: Brachyderinae. Family Curculionidae

When they are young, they have a beautiful green colouring. It changes in  grayish green when they are old. 
You can find this species in birches. In my garden I find them in the bay shrubs near the birch. 
They feed on leaves of trees and bushes such as birch, apple, strawberry. They are no pest in my garden.
The larvae feed on roots. April - July  
Europe. In America (Green immigrant leaf weevil) since 1906 (first found in New York)

Lagria hirta or Lagria atripes. Two very similar species. Subfamily Lagriidae. Family Tenebrionidae

It is a darkling beetle. On this site you can find information about the differences between Lagria hirta and Lagria atripes. (in German)
They have a soft body and are rather sluggish. But they can fly. The brown wing cases are very hairy. The head and torax is black.
They eat among other things nectar and pollen.
The larva feed on decaying matter in leaf-litter and turf.
Length: 7-10mm  

Flying time: May – August. Lagria atripes is earlier than Lagria hirta.   

Photos 2-7-2011

German: Wollkäfer 

There are some very similar soldier beetles. 

    Here some other photos 22-5-2011.  German: Weichkäfer  

In July I  find the common red soldier beetles (rhagonycha fulva) everywhere in the garden. Especially on the flowers of the parsley and celery.
This beetle is very common in Europe. On holidays in England I saw them also in large numbers at Stonehenge and in Cornwall.
The body is red yellowish. The last bit of the elytra is black. 7 - 11 mm.

Large photo: 11-7-2011

   Photos 16-5-2011. 

There are several black soldiers with black shields. Two species are very similar. Cantharis obscura is a common species in the Netherlands. It is very similar to the rare Cantharis paradoxa. The species is only to determine by genital examination.

   Photo 16-5-2011

This family is related to the ground beetles. Besides they can swim, they can fly too. The body has a streamlined shape. They store air under the elytra (the space between the abdomen and the elytra) They have no gills.
The larvae are also carnivores and aquatic. The beetles usually overwinter.
Sometimes I see a water beetle in the pond. But this was the first I found in the landing net, when I removed the leaves out of the pond.  Photos beetle 13/3/2010 Length: 10 mm.

It is mot easy to determine the dark water beetles from a photo. It may be one the family Agabus or of the family  Ilybius. The beetle looks like a Agabus bipustulatus.
If you are looking for a water beetle, you can find many species at this page  (a German site)

This beetle (6 mm) I saw in the pond on a leaf. I recognized it as Helophorus. But I had to ask the name of the species. 
Ton van Haaren.: Helophorus grandis or Helophorus aequalis. They are very similar. Thanks Ton.
 
It lives in water, it is therefore not as well adapted in terms of body shape such as the Dytiscidae. The body is elongated, but is interrupted between pronotum and elytra. The pronotum has irregular, longitudinal grooves. 
You'll find them near the water plants. They can fly. After the photo left, this beetle flew away.   

Photos: 9-11-2011

19 May a number of this species flew in the garden. It was difficult to take photos because they were continuously in movement. This I had written some years ago. I still see them every year in May in our garden.
It is a smaller relative of the Cockchafer or May Bug. It appears on sandy soils. Garden chafers have chestnut brown wing casings which are covered in tiny hairs. They have fan-like antennae, like all chafers. The wing cases are chestnut brown and are covered in tiny hairs.  
After the females have deposited 70% of the eggs, they start a short feeding period on trees and shrubs and cause damage to fruit trees. The rest of the eggs are laid on another place.
Eggs have a developing time of four weeks. The larvae feed on the roods of the grass and can cause much damage. They pupate in October and hibernate as a pupa in the soil.
Size: Approximately 10mm long.   Flying time: May-July  

German: Gartenlaubkäfer  French: Hanneton des jardins, Hanneton horticole

This dung beetle I found in April on the windowstill. There is nowhere dung. So I was surprised to find it.. 
Two days later, I found at the same place a second dung beetle. The photo is a little better. They are also on dog dung. A male because of the large horn and 2 smaller beside on the head.  

Photos 23-4-2008 and 27-4-2008

This dung beetle (family Aphodius) I rescued from a spider web (Not the beetle in the large photo). It is also a small beetle. There are a number of species, which are similar. There are small differences such as the pattern on the elytra.

This picture I've taken a few years later. 27-3-2011

  Photo's 24-9-2008 On this Photo it has got its freedom back.

Size 8 - 10 mm.

  Photo 27-7-2011

Length: 10 - 14,5 mm. It is very similar to Hemicrepidius Hirtus.

Distinguished by the hairs on the pronotum, which grow forward. See detail photo. Photos 23-4-2011  

There are a number of very similar species. 
I've never seen these beetles in the garden. In April I saw some Ampedus click beetles in the dunes not far from my house page dunes.  Photos 24-4-2010

Philonthus spec. Family  Rove beetles (Staphylinidae) 

A beautiful shiny black beetle. About 1 cm. It 's a nimble insect. Photo 25-9-2011.

Anthobium atrocephalum, formely Lathrimaeum atrocephalum. Family Rove beetles (Staphylinidae)

This small beetle (about 3, 4 mm) you don't easily recognize as a rove beetle. Photo 15-11-2010. 

In this picture you see a bug (Nabis) and another short rove beetle. This is a Stenus spec. There are 80 species in the Netherlands. I found them together in a shell of a horse chestnut. Beginning in March 2009.

Most of the family jewel beetles have a beautiful metallic colour. There are more than 15,000 species in the world. The shape is very recognizable. (oblong, narrower rear end) Most jewel beetles live in the tropics.
The larvae look a bit like a tadpole and they live under the bark. They can cause much damage.

This is an Agrilus. There are more identical species. In the book "De Nederlandse prachtkevers - The Dutch jewel beetles" by Oscar Frost is written, that in out area only live Agrilus angustulus [dark brown] and Agrilus cyanescens [blue]. Then this jewel beetle must be Agrilus cyanescens. The larva of this species lives in honeysuckle. (thanks for the Information Toon)
Length 4 to 7 mm. Photo 9-4-2009.

  A couple Photo 30-6-2010  German: Prachtkäfer  French: Agriles

Raspberry beetle  (Byturus tomentosus) Family Fruitworms (Byturidae)

Two small beetles on the flower of the greater celandine. They feed on pollen and nectar. It lays eggs on the flowers of raspberry, blackberry and loganberry plants. which hatch into pale brown larvae. The pale brown larvae lives in the fruit. 
I always examine the raspberries before I start to eat.
In late summer, the larvae move into the soil where they hibernate as pupae. The beetle lives three months.
Of course this beetle is a pest. It is a common species in north-central Europe.
Size 4 mm
There is not much difference with the Byturus  aestivus. B. tomentosus has smaller eyes.
The photos below are taken in Arpil 2009.
   

German: Himbeerkäfer   French: Ver des framboises

Photo 17-4-2011

German: Schwammkugelkäfer.

These beetles live in our garden in a dead trunk of an apple tree. The male are walking around while waving the distinctive comb like antennae. The antennae of the female are saw like.
They excavate a brood chamber in wood to lay eggs
In the Netherlands you also have the Ptilinus fusca. The "comb" of the antenna of males of this species is shorter.

Length: 4 - 5,5 mm
Photo 21-5-2011 Male and female.

The species of this family are small, elongated, oval beetles. The length is 3 or 4 mm. From a photograph, they are not easy to determine. It looks like an Anapsis frontalis, when I look at pictures on google.
You find them on flowers and dead wood. The larvae develop in rotten wood and decaying leaves on the ground.
They resemble the beetles of the related family Mordellidae.  In France I saw many. 

The colour patron is variable. The beetles feed on pollen and nectar.
Size: 3 mm  On this photo the beetle was hidden on a flower of feverfew.
They look like the museum beetle (Anthrenus museorum) and the Anthrenus pellio.

The larvae  feed on a variety of animal products such as woolens, carpets, hides, feathers, horns, bone and insect pupae. 
They can be pests in houses and museums and in insect collections.
In house they can damage clothes, furniture, carpets etc. At the office, they can do damage to modern office furniture and the office carpeting.
In nature they are found in nests of birds and on dead animals. 
In 2009 I saw much more carpet beetles on the feverfew. Maybe other species of the family. 

German: Wollkrautblütenkäfer