They are cosmopolitan in distribution and are distinguished from others in the superfamily by a combination of characters.

[1] Communication may be with mates, or with ants that tend the nymphs, protecting them and gathering honeydew secretions.

[2] Adults of some species have brightly coloured forewings which are tougher and known as tegmina unlike the membranous hindwings which are used for flight.

In the subfamily Flatinae, the body of adults is flattened laterally and the tegmina are tent-like.

In the Flatoidinae, the body is not laterally compressed and the tegmina are not as tent-like and sometimes held horizontally.