Fire-coloured beetles is the common name for members of the tenebrionoid family Pyrochroidae. The family is found worldwide, and is most diverse at temperate latitudes. Adults measure 2-20 mm; larvae reach 35 mm. Larvae of Pyrochroinae are found associated with the bark of dead trees. They are probably mostly fungivorous, although they may become cannibalistic if too crowded.
The Boridae are a small family of tenebrionoid beetles with no vernacular common name, though recent authors have coined the name conifer bark beetles. The family contains three genera. Boros is native to North America and northern Eurasia, Lecontia is endemic to North America, while Synercticus is found in Australia and New Guinea. The larvae of Boros are found under bark and are especially associated with standing dead trees (snags), typically pines, found in old-growth forests. Lecontia larvae are found inhabiting damp parts of the root system of dead standing trees. Little is known of the life habits of Synercticus.
Prostomidae is a family of beetles with no vernacular common name, though recent authors have coined the name jugular-horned beetles. They are often found in dead wood. The family consist of two genera with about 20 species. Prostomis americanus is known from North America. Other species of Prostomis are found in Africa, the Pacific region and East Asia. Species of Dryocora are known from New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania.
The family Scraptiidae is a small group of tenebrionoid beetles sometimes called false flower beetles. There are about 400 species in 30 genera with a world-wide distribution. The adults are found on flowers, sometimes in large numbers, but are also found on foliage. The larvae are typically found under the bark of dead trees. The oldest fossils of the group date to the Eocene.
The Synchroidae are a small family of tenebrionoid beetles with no vernacular common name. The family consists of three extant genera, Mallodrya, Synchroa, and Synchroina, with a total of nine species., which are found in North America, East Asia and Southeast Asia. The larvae of species of Synchroa are known to feed on rotting cambium tissue found in deciduous trees, with adults being nocturnal.
Chaetosomatidae is a small family of beetles, in the superfamily Cleroidea. There are three extant genera, two of which are endemic to New Zealand with the other (Malgassochaetus) native to Madagascar. Members of this family are predaceous on wood-boring insects.
Cavognathidae is a family of beetles, in the superfamily Cucujoidea. It contains a single genus, Taphropiestes with around a dozen species known from South America, Australia and New Zealand. In Australian and New Zealand species adults and larvae have been found living in bird nests, but their ecology is unclear, but they are possibly scavengers.
Hobartiidae is a family of beetles, in the superfamily Cucujoidea. There are only two known genera Hobartius and Hydnobioides, with six species, five of which are native to Australia, and one species of Hobartius native to Chile and Argentina in South America. Members of the family are mycophagous, living in rotten, fungus infested logs of Araucaria, Nothofagus, and Eucalyptus, where they feed on the fruiting bodies of basidiomycetes.
Phloeostichidae is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea. They are typically found under the bark of dead trees. Larvae have been found to consume plant tissue and some fungus, while the adults appear to be exclusively fungivores. The family contains four extant genera, Phloeostichus is native to the Palearctic, Rhopalobrachium is native to central-southern South America and eastern Australia, Hymaea is native to southeastern Australia, and Bunyastichus is found in Tasmania.
Protocucujidae is a family of beetles, in the superfamily Cucujoidea. It has a single known genus, Ericmodes, of which Protocucujus is a junior synonym. Species of Ericmodes are native to southern South America and Eastern Australia. Little is known of their biology, though adults and larvae probably live on vegetation, with adults having also been found in leaf litter and in flight.
Pterogeniidae is a family of beetles belonging to the supefamily Tenebrionoidea. They are found in South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Adults and larvae have been found associated with the fruiting bodies of polypore fungi, although adults can also be found in litter and debris.
Stenotrachelidae, commonly called false longhorn beetles is a family of beetles in the superfamily Tenebrionoidea. They are native to the Holarctic region. The larvae feed on heavily decomposed wood, while the adults are likely short lived and probably feed on pollen.
Salpingidae or narrow-waisted bark beetles is a family of beetles in the superfamily Tenebrionoidea. The species are small, about 1.5 – 7 mm in length. The family is globally distributed and consists of about 45 genera and 300 species, which are generally found in the temperate regions of both hemispheres. The family is mainly associated with plants as well as with ascomycete and hyphomycete fungi. Some members of the family are associated with unusual habitats, like Aegialites and Antarcticodomus, which are found in coastal areas including the intertidal zone, with former feeding on algae.
Trachelostenus is a genus of beetles belonging to Tenebrionoidea. It is native to the Valdivian forests of Chile, and has at least two species, T. inaequalis (Solier) and T. fascicularis (Philipp). It was historically considered the only member of the family Trachelostenidae, but a 2015 study sunk the genus into the tenebrionid subfamily Tenebrioninae.
The Ulodidae are a family of beetles belonging to Tenebrionoidea. They are native to the Southern Hemisphere, with species found in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Chile. Larvae and adults are generally found on dead wood or fungus associated with rotting wood. There are approximately 40 species in 16 genera.
Passandridae, the "parasitic flat bark beetles," are a family of beetles notable for being one of the very few beetle families with larvae that are, as far as known, exclusively ectoparasitic on the immature stages of other beetles and Hymenoptera.
Omethidae is a family of Elateroidea sometimes known as the false soldier beetles. They are native to South, Southeast and Eastern Asia and the Americas. Their biology is obscure and their larvae are unknown. They appear to inhabit vegetation in or surrounding forests, and are probably active during the day.
Mauroniscidae is a family of cleroid beetles, formerly included in the family Melyridae. There are presently five or six genera and roughly 30 described species in Mauroniscidae, all of which are native to the Americas. Almost nothing is known about their biology.
Metaxina is the only genus in the beetle family Metaxinidae. Its only species is Metaxina ornata. It endemic to the South island of New Zealand, where it is associated with sooty mold growing on Nothofagus trees. Both the larvae and adults are likely predaceous, feeding on insects and other arthropods. It is considered to be a member of the superfamily Cleroidea. Genetic studies have suggested that Metaxina should be considered a member of Chaetosomatidae, rather than constituting its own family.
Rhadalidae are a family of beetles of the superfamily Cleroidea, formerly treated as a subfamily within the family Melyridae. The adults are predators or feed on pollen, while the larvae are probably carnivorous.
