They can be easily identified by their shortened elytra that leaves two of the seven tergites exposed, and their geniculate (elbowed) antennae with clubbed ends.

Hister beetles have proved useful during forensic investigations to help in time of death estimation.

Hister beetles are easily identified by their protibia which are flattened and toothed and their shortened elytra.

[2] Hister beetles have specialized heads that can retract into their prothorax and two lamellate antennae with clubbed ends.

As predators, hister beetles commonly feed on the egg, larval, and adult stages of other insects.

Another theory for the origin of this beetle's name stems from the fact that in Latin, "hister" means actor.

The beetles live in dung, carrion, dead vegetation, sandy areas, under tree bark, mammal burrows, and ant/termite colonies.

A remarkable ability of some hister beetles is their capacity to live in close proximity with ants (myrmecophiles) and termites (termitophiles).

Some examples are mammalian nests where other arthropods scavenge for food or carrion where maggots will arrive.

The oldest crown group representatives are known from the Burmese amber, around 99 million years old, including those belonging to the extant subfamily Haeteriinae,[9] and the living genus Onthophilus.

[12] The predacious hister beetle will feed on soft-bodied insect eggs and larvae, Diptera in particular.

[2] Histeridae goes through holometabolous development, meaning it goes through four stages of egg, larva, pupa and adult.

The beetle is non-feeding and immobile in this stage, as their internal structure is breaking down and rebuilding to its adult form.

Under good temperature conditions, the hister beetle will stay in the pupal stage for about a week.

[2] The male and female reproductive organs are hidden underneath the last few sternites on the mesosternal (mesosternum) side.

The males also have a duct that carries the sperm from the testes to the copulatory structure, which stays concealed until copulation.

The members of this subclass live anywhere from the soil, desert, and coast to caves, mammalian burrows, and vegetation.

One division of the Geobiote feeds on maggots and eggs that are found in forest vegetation or in carrion.

The fourth type of Geobiotes feed on fly eggs that grow on fresh dung.

Inquilines This division consists of those Histeridae that live in close proximity with social colonies of arthropods such as ants and termites.

[13] These beetles have an excretory organ that produces an odor telling the ants they mean no harm.

[14] Because members of the family Histeridae can be found on carrion, they have proven to be important in certain forensic investigations.

Due to their importance in forensic entomology, research is continually being conducted on this family's life cycle and development, their prevalence in specific locations, and their geographical distribution.

Forty species of Coleoptera, including the hister beetles, were observed on twelve pig carcasses over a one-year period.

The beetles' distribution and their time of colonization in the various decomposition stages over the year were examined and recorded.

Certain species of the hister beetles follow shortly behind and prey on the maggots and other arthropods present.

The family Histeridae is very diverse, so different species can be found on the body at different times because of their various feeding habits.

The hister beetles lay their eggs in dead bodies and over a short period of time they develop into various stages.

Fly larvae lack a head capsule, instead having distinct, internal, black mouth hooks (cephalopharyngeal skeleton of mouthparts) at the anterior end of their body.

The hister beetles will hide under the dead body in the soil during the day and come out at night to feed.