Family: Histeridae (steel beetles, hister beetles)
Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Arthopoda > Mandibulata > Atelocerata > Panhexapoda > Hexapoda
> Insecta
(insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota > Metapterygota > Neoptera > Eumetabola >
Holometabola > Coleoptera
(beetles)
> Polyphaga > Superfamily: Histeroidea
Histerid beetles are small to
medium sized (1-20mm), usually black
and shiny, with elytra not covering the
abdomen entirely, usually exposing the last 2 segments. The head is retracted
under the pronotum and the jaws are conspicuous. The are found mainly in decaying organic matter such as dung, dead
animals and leaf litter. There are also species that live in termite colonies (termitophilous)
and others that live in ant nests (myrmecophilous). Adults and larvae are mainly
predators on larvae of beetles and flies but there are species that eat fungal
spores.
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