Rove beetles[]
Arthropods (Arthropoda)----Insects (Insecta)----Beetles (Coleoptera)----Polyphaga-----Staphylinoidea-----Rove beetles (Staphylinidae)
10th May, 2009.
1st October, 2008. Recently landed; with wings still out.
These unusual non-beetle like beetles are commonly found in gardens running over or under soil. They can also be found under rocks and leaf litter in lightly and heavily forested areas and larger species can be found in carrion, also digging in the soil may reveal some. Despite very short elytra the wings are normaly sized and these beetles can fly well. Who knows how they can fold their wings up that quickly though. These insects are somewhat similar to Earwigs, and have clubbed antennae. Larvae can be mistaken for Carabid larvae sometimes, and it is easier to tell them apart with magnification on hand with the larva. Adults and larvae of this family are predatory and feed on smaller invertebrates with a very small amount of larvae eating decaying vegetation. The rove beetles as a whole are a nightmare to identify to species and are generally only easy to identify with the specimen on hand or a high quality photograph. When threatened some species curl their abdomen up in a scorpion-like manner, but they remain just as harmless.
| Spindle-shaped Rove beetle |  7th May, 2008. |
Small Rove beetle |   1st September, 2008. |
| Tachyporus sp. | ????? ???? | ||
| Red-plated Rove beetle |   7th May, 2008. |
Brown-plated Rove beetle |   15th May, 2008. |
| Anotylus insecatus |
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