The family Glaresidae represents one of the most enigmatic and evolutionarily most ancient groups of beetles within the superfamily Scarabaeoidea. It comprises only a single extant genus, Glaresis, whose species inhabit predominantly dry and sandy areas across almost the entire world, with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. These tiny beetles measure only a few millimetres in size, and most of what is known about them comes from trapping adults at light during their nocturnal activity. Although adult beetles can be attracted relatively easily to artificial light sources, their larval stages and exact mode of feeding remain a great mystery to modern science. Morphologically, they resemble small burrowing ground beetles – they have a robust body, strongly developed digging legs and a densely dotted surface on their elytra. Fossil finds show that the group already existed during the Lower Cretaceous period and has changed very little over tens of millions of years. Thanks to this evolutionary stability, the Glaresidae are often referred to as ‘living fossils’ amongst the carabid beetles.

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Family Card

Glaresis rufa