The clown beetles or more traditionally hister beetles are a family (Histeridae) of beetles of distinctive appearance; their flattened leg segments recall the baggy or flowing clothes of clowns or actors ("hister" is from the Latin histrio, actor). The 3,900 species of the family are found worldwide, usually living in dung, carrion, or animal burrows, where they feed on the larvae and eggs of soft-bodied insects, especially those of flies. Suborders Adephaga Archostemata Myxophaga Polyphaga See subgroups of the order Coleoptera Beetles are one of the most diverse groups of insects. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Dance fly male Empis tesselata The flesh fly, Sarcophaga carnaria Close-up of the head of a blow-fly. ...

Important Works on Staphylinidae

Identification

For the Palaearctic Fauna the most up to date work is: The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface (see map). ...

Witzgall, K. 1971: Famienreihe Histeroidea. 10. Familie: Histeridae. In Freude, H., Harde, K.W., Lohse, G.A. (Eds.): Die Käfer Mitteleuropas Vol. 3. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld: 156-189.

External links

• Tree of life

• Histeridae of Europe,in German

Reference

• Peter W. Kovarik and Michael S. Caterino, "Histeridae", in Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001), vol. 1

Work in progress Ross Harold Arnett, Jr. ... Michael C. Thomas is an American entomologist who is co-author of the book series American Beetles. ... American Beetles is the single most comprehensive description of the beetles of North America north of the tropical area of Mexico. ...