Overview

Larvae live in rotten logs, and adults have been collected at light .

Within Australia, larval Polyphaga (Callirhipidae) occur in all freshwater and terrestrial habitats, with taxa known to feed on dead or decaying wood, within leaf litter, or on living plants, either externally or internally. Very few are parasitoids, many are predatory, and like the Adephaga, several groups have radiated within freshwater aquatic habitats.

Description

Large, elongate beetles with prominent antennae borne on frontal prominence and pectinate (female) or flabellate (male) beginning with the 3rd segment. Eyes large and projecting; prothorax without distinct lateral carinae and with well-developed basal interlocking mechanism, which may be crenulate; elytra ribbed or provided with window punctures; tarsi simple with large, multisetose empodium between claws.

Larvae heavily sclerotised and cylindrical, with globular head, very short antennae, solidly fused maxillolabial complex, sclerotised ligular plate, short legs, and dorsally-hinged operculum at abdominal apex.

Distribution

Australian species belonging to Callirhipis and Ennometes occur in wet forests of northern N.S.W. and Qld.