genus Anthribus is one of the few examples of

a carnivorous weevil, as adults and larvae are

predators and parasitoids of scale insects

(Hemiptera: Coccoidea) and their eggs.

However, the majority of Anthribidae are

associated as adults and larvae with fungi or with

fungoid dead wood, and they can be abundant in

tropical forests throughout the world. A smaller

number of species can be found in temperate

woodlands, but they are almost entirely forest

insects. Most species are patterned in gray, brown,

and white, breaking up their outline and making

them difficult to see. Several species can run and

fly rapidly when disturbed.

above | Habrissus ramosus

This large-eyed and

fast-moving fungus weevil

from tropical Asia was

described as new for science

as recently as 1997.

opposite | Platystomos albinus A fungus weevil

from northern Europe, with a brown and

white pattern that resembles a fleck of fungoid

bark or possibly a bird dropping.

below | Euparius A nocturnal

fungus weevil of the Brazilian

Atlantic Forest. Many

Neotropical fungus beetles

share this speckled pattern.