Lycidae Laporte, 1836
General description:
elongated soft bodied beetles. Elytra have a distinctive network of diagonal ridges and less distinct cross-ridges; elytra nearly always broadest at the rear. Head more or less concealed from above; sides of pronotum copressed, surface flattened. antennae long, thick, flattened and nearly always saw-toothed. red coloration is very common. Tarsi 5-5-5. Larvae are elongate, very flattened and heavily sclerotised. some have large scales above their heads and resemble trilobites (genus Duliticola).
Biology:
Adults are active in daytime on foliage, flowers, or tree trunks. Some are believed to be predaceous, some feeding on vegetation; predaceous larvae feed in leaf litter or decaying plant material and live under bark.