Rugose Rove Beetle vs Xanthostigma Snakefly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Rugose Rove Beetle Xanthostigma Snakefly
Scientific Name Anotylus rugosus Xanthostigma xanthostigma
Order Coleoptera Raphidioptera
Family Staphylinidae Raphidiidae
Size 3-5 mm 12-18 mm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Scavengers Predators
Regions Cosmopolitan: Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas, Australasia Europe, Western Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Rugose Rove Beetle

A small, dark oxytelline rove beetle with a heavily rugose (wrinkled) surface texture. It is extremely common in dung and decaying organic matter across much of the temperate world.

💡

Did You Know?

This is one of the most cosmopolitan beetle species in the world, found on every continent except Antarctica.

Xanthostigma Snakefly

A snakefly with a distinctive yellow wing stigma from which it derives its name. It is found in European woodlands where it hunts small insects on tree trunks.

💡

Did You Know?

Snakefly larvae develop under bark where they are voracious predators of bark beetle larvae and other wood-boring insects.