Staphylinidae Latreille, 1802

Berx, Peter, Bosmans, Bart, Dekoninck, Wouter, Janssen, Marc, Stassen, Eugène & Crevecoeur, Luc, 2023, Faunistic survey of myrmecophilous and other ant-associated beetles and spiders in the Belgian province of Limburg (Araneae, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 141, pp. 1-61 : 29

Staphylinidae Latreille, 1802

A total of 19,674 staphylinid specimens discussed in this paper were collected (Annex). Due to the large number of species, we list our observations by subfamily. In the family of rove beetles, we find most of the species defined as true myrmecophiles. Morphologically, physiologically and ethologically, they have adapted to deal with ants. They have learned to appease the host’s aggressive behaviour, their permanent presence in ant colonies has been confirmed and they sometimes develop their entire life cycle in this environment. This assured them a shelter from which they could easily access the necessary food, either from the ants’ brood or from food supplied by the foraging ants.