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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Family Histeridae - Clown Beetles

Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Hydrophiloidea (Water Scavenger and Clown Beetles)
Family Histeridae (Clown Beetles)
Other Common Names
Hister Beetles
Numbers
Nearctica.com lists approx. 51 genera or something like that.
White (1) lists 53 genera, 359 spp. for North America
American Beetles (2) states there are 57 genera, 435 spp. known from the United States
Size
1-20 mm
Habitat
Found in dung, carrion, decomposing fungi, under bark. Flattened species usually occur under bark. Some are symbiotic with ants. Also can be found in forest litter, flood debris, treeholes, bird nests, mammal/reptile burrows, at sap flows, under wrack on beaches, and on sandy beaches.
Food
Adults and larvae predatory on other insects (such as maggots), other small animals.
Print References
Dillon, p. 219, family discussion (3)
White, pp. 132-133, figs. 49-50, plate 1 (1)
Mazur, S. 1997. A World catalogue of the Histeridae (Coleoptera: Histeroidea). Biologica Silesiae, Wroclaw. 373 pp.
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Beetles
By Richard E. White
2.American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia
By Arnett, R.H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.)
3.A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America
By Dillon, Elizabeth S., and Dillon, Lawrence