They are small, ranging in length from 2 to 4 mm, rarely seen, peculiarly lumpy, flattened bugs found in Patagonia (Argentina and Chile), New Zealand, eastern Australia, Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia.

Peloridiids are found amongst mosses and liverworts, commonly in association with southern beech forests.

They are the only living members of the suborder Coleorrhyncha, which first appeared in the Upper Permian, over 250 million years ago.

[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The question remains whether this affinity between the Coleorrhyncha and the Heteroptera necessitates the imposition of a suborder between them and the order Hemiptera.

The oldest members of Coleorrhyncha are known from the Upper Permian, over 250 million years ago, assigned to the family Progonocimicidae.