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ANTLIKE LITTER BEETLES

STAPHYLINIDAE: PSELAPHINAE

P

selaphinae have a distinctive shape, with

the abdomen bulbous and shortened elytra,

and the head and pronotum narrower than the

abdomen. The majority of species can fly, but

not readily. Even though the elytra are short,

members of the subfamily do not resemble typical

Staphylinidae, which is probably why Pselaphinae

was until recently treated as a family in its own

right, the second largest in Staphylinoidea.

The majority of species of Pselaphinae are small,

about 1.5 mm being an average length. They can

be collected in moss, among roots, in grass tussocks,

and in the leaf litter of the forest floor, sometimes

in large numbers, in both temperate forests and in

the tropics, where the diversity is enormous and

thousands of new species are still to be discovered.

STAPHYLINIDAE: PSELAPHINAE

subfamily

Pselaphinae

known species

10,000

distribution

Worldwide except Antarctica

habitat

Damp woodland and grassland, in moss

and leaf litter, or in nests of ants or termites

size

0.5–5.5 mm

diet

Predators; adults and larvae eat mites and

other small invertebrates

notes

Pselaphinae have a rich fossil history, going

back to Lower Cretaceous Spanish amber.

However, no association with ants has been

demonstrated for any Mesozoic fossil. The

earliest known myrmecophile (ant-associate)