Beetle (Enemy)

The Beetle is a simple creature with greater speed than most enemies. Even so, it poses little threat to Link and can be defeated with a single sword swipe.

In Link's Awakening beetles are an inexplicably uncommon enemy, only appearing on one screen, south of Kanalet Castle. They appear from a hole in the ground when Link gets close. They can be killed easily with a single sword slash, but endlessly continue appearing from the hole.

In the Oracle games, the Beetle appears only occasionally when Link digs a hole using the Shovel. As such, they may actually be one of the most common enemies in the two games (along with the Rope) because of their ability to appear anywhere Link is capable of digging.

In The Minish Cap, they are very commonly found when digging with the Mole Mitts.

Strategy
Very little strategy is needed to kill a Beetle, one attack with any offensive item is enough to do away with them.

Non-Enemy Beetles
Twilight Princess contained Beetles and Stag Beetles as male and female pairs of bugs in the Golden Bugs collection quest for Princess Agitha.