Glaresidae adults are commonly collected using blacklights and when they do occur, usually are attracted in large numbers. Adults are typically very small, about 2-5 mm long, oblong, convex and reddish-brown to light brown. The larvae and habits are unknown. Some glaresid researchers suspect that both adults and larvae may live in association with ants or termites where they feed on subterranean fungi.
Since glaresids display a plethora of primitive characteristics, but very few novel ones, they are thought to be very close in structure to the ancestor of the Scarabaeoidea. This makes them very important to students of the Scarabaeoidea in that they provide a basis of comparison when evaluating relationships between other members of the superfamily. Pleocomidae Pleocomidae is a small family represented by about 37 species. These rare beetles are only found in the western United States.
Pleocomid adults are typically large, about 25 mm, stout beetles, black to reddish-brown and covered with dense, but short, dark yellow hairs, especially on the ventral surface. Larvae live in the soil and feed on roots of trees and grasses. Adults do not feed, but live in burrows in the ground, emerging at dusk and after rains, hence the common name rain beetles. Winged males then seek wingless females for breeding.
Pleocomid adults generally become active as the temperature begins to cool, in the late fall and early winter, where the dense coat of hairs becomes useful in providing insulation. Reliable sources have it that one entomologist, hiking in Oregon during the early winter, was forced to erect a tent at the onset of an unexpected blizzard. He was quite surprised when what must have been a very hardy pleocomid flew in from the blizzard and straight into his bowl of soup! Bolboceratidae Bolboceratidae is a large family represented by several hundred species. These common beetles are found throughout the world in a variety of habitats.
Adults are small to large (5-25 mm), stout bodied, convex and oval usually brown or black. Adults provision larval burrows with food, generally decaying plant material. Larvae feed on the humus and perhaps subterranean fungi growing on the humus. Adults are fungi feeders.
Both adult and larval burrows can be extremely deep. Photographs have recorded truly dedicated entomologists digging pits several metres into the ground in order to trace bolboceratid burrows to the end!