Staphylinidae

Staphylinidae

[‚staf·ə′lin·ə‚dē]

(invertebrate zoology)

The rove beetles, a very large family of coleopteran insects in the superfamily Staphylinoidea.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Staphylinidae

 

(rove beetles), a family of beetles. The body is usually narrow and elongated, measuring 1.5 to 40 mm in length. The elytra are short and do not cover the last 3–5 abdominal segments. The head, thorax, and abdomen are articulated. The larvae are mobile and have well-developed legs.

Of the more than 30,000 widely distributed species, more than 2,000 occur in the USSR. Rove beetles and their larvae live concealed under stones, in the forest litter, under bark, in fungi, and in the nests of mammals, birds, and ants; they are also commonly found in manure or carrion. The larvae also inhabit the soil. Most species are predators, feeding on insects, insect larvae, and small ticks. A good number are saprophages, and a few are herbivores, constituting minor crop pests. Rove beetles of the genus Paederus contain toxins in their blood and cause local inflammation when crushed on human skin.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.