parasitic on the mammals, feeding on their

blood, but it has recently been shown that

they are beneficial to their hosts, and for this

reason are tolerated by the mammals and

not eaten or removed during grooming.

They live on mice, rats, and opossums in

South and Central America and Australia

worms and maggots in order to feed on them with

their strong mandibles.

To make up for the lack of protection from the

elytra, most species have defensive glands at the apex

of the abdomen that produce foul-smelling or

distasteful chemicals, and when threatened they arch

right | Staphylinus Unlike their somber

nocturnal relative the Devil’s Coach

Horse, colorful European Staphylinus fly

readily in bright sunshine.

the body so that the apex of the abdomen is directly

above the head. This stance gives them an alarming,

scorpion-like appearance, as well as lining up the

defensive glands with the powerful mandibles. Some

species are called “cock-tail beetles” because of this

posture. Ocypus olens, the largest species occurring in

Europe, which can be seen in woods and gardens

on damp evenings in late summer in search of slugs

and worms, has earned the rather sinister common

name “Devil’s Coach Horse.”

opposite | Actinus imperialis

Another bright metallic

diurnal forest species, this

time from New Guinea,

where it hunts caterpillars

on the leaves of forest trees.

above | Plochionocerus fulgens

A colorful diurnal species

from the rainforests of South

America, here folding up its

flight wings under its elytra

using a middle leg.