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
Identification
Antennae distinctive: short, elbowed, with "abrupt" 3-segmented club.
(1)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
American Beetles, Vol. 1, Chapter 15
(2)
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.
