Cleridae can be identified based on their 5–5–5 tarsal formula, division of sternites, and the absence of a special type of vesicle.

This is a very effective technique for controlling bark beetles due to the voracious appetite of many clerid species.

Key characteristics of Polyphaga are that the hind coxa (base of the leg), do not divide the first and second abdominal/ventral plates which are known as sternites.

Their tarsal formula is 5–5–5, meaning that on each of the front, middle and hind legs there are 5 tarsomeres (individual subsegments of the feet/tarsi).

[1] The second defining characteristic of the family Cleridae is that clerids never have eversible vesicles (small usually hidden balloon-like structures thought to be scent glands) on their abdomen and pronotum.

These "tree living species" are found in forests across the world with various climates and an array of easily preyed upon insects.

Some checkered beetles are known to have an extremely voracious appetite with some larvae able to consume "several times their own body weight" in a day.

[7] Because of the checkered beetles predaceous nature and insatiable appetite, they are often key players in the biological control of other insects.

are attracted to dry carrion and other decomposing animal matter such as bones and skin as well as various meat products.

[9] One of the more diverse genera is Trichodes, in which larvae feed on the pollen of flowering plants and adults prey upon grasshoppers and wasps.

[12] For the longer-living species such as Thanasimus, this occurs in late summer or early fall to give the larvae enough time for proper growth before having to overwinter.

[13] The pupal stage can last from 6 weeks to one year depending on the need to overwinter, and how short the overall life cycle is for a particular species.

A majority of clerid species pupate in earthen cells which are made from soil and certain enzymes secreted from their mouths.

Adult beetles emerge from pupation and spend a variable time of their life maturing, and eventually oviposit.

Sexually mature adults or imagos of Thanasiumus overwinter inside the wood-borer-infested trees and oviposit during the spring.

[12] Necrobia rufipes, commonly known as the red-legged ham beetle, is of particular importance in stored product entomology.

It infests dried or smoked meats, especially those products that are stored unwrapped for long periods of time.

Adults feed on the surface of the products, while the larvae damage the meat by boring down usually in the fatty parts.

[14] Necrobia rufipes has been recorded feeding upon a large variety of items ranging from hides and dried figs to Egyptian mummies.

[14] Since clerids are predaceous in nature, they have been found feeding on fly larvae as well as the skin and bones of carrion.

The oldest members of the family are Protoclerus and Wangweiella the late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Daohugou bed in Inner Mongolia, China.