Insects · Coleoptera · Histeridae

Unicolour Hister Beetle

Hister unicolor

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

A black, glossy clown beetle with a compact, flattened body, living in dung, compost and carrion. It does not feed on the decaying matter itself but on the fly larvae that proliferate in it, both as an adult and as a larva.

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

GrasslandCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Insect Grassland

40countries

Fun facts

It can fold its legs and antennae away completely into grooves in its own body, ending up like a smooth, hard seed that no predator can get a grip on.
It is of interest in forensic entomology: its presence and stage of development help narrow down the time elapsed since death.
It is a natural ally on livestock farms, where it cuts down fly populations without any need for insecticides.
Although it lives in dung and carrion, it does not eat them: it is a predator, and what it hunts are the fly larvae that breed there.
Its wing cases are short and leave the last two abdominal segments exposed, a diagnostic feature of the family along with its elbowed, clubbed antennae.
Disturbed, it draws in its legs and lies still playing dead: it looks like a shiny black seed.
Its predatory role makes it useful in the biological control of flies on livestock farms, and in forensic entomology, because it arrives at a body when fly larvae are abundant and that helps narrow down the time of death.