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Family:
Staphylinidae (rove 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: Staphylinoidea
Elongate beetles (usually) ranging widely in size (1.0 - 20.0
mm long) and with distinctive abbreviated elytra that expose most of the
abdominal segments. Adults are mainly predators and are often seen running with
their abdomens upturned, rather like earwigs.
Some species
feed on dead animals (saprophages), fungi or algae. Larvae are also mainly
predators Larvae of Aleochora species are parasitoids of fly pupae.
Staphylinids live in a wide range of habitats but are particularly abundant in
decaying matter on the ground (e.g. leaf litter). Some specialised species live
in ant and termite nests. There are about 150 genera and 750
species of Staphylinidae known from southern Africa.
Page by Margie Cochrane |
