Red Mushroom Beetle vs Ant Cricket

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Red Mushroom Beetle Ant Cricket
Scientific Name Oxyporus rufus Myrmecophilus acervorum
Order Coleoptera Orthoptera
Family Staphylinidae Gryllidae
Size 7-12 mm 2-3 mm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Herbivores Parasites
Regions Europe, Asia Europe, Western Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Red Mushroom Beetle

A striking red and black rove beetle that lives in and feeds on fresh mushroom caps. Has large, powerful mandibles for cutting fungal tissue. One of the few herbivorous rove beetles.

💡

Did You Know?

Unusual among rove beetles for being a herbivore, with powerful mandibles adapted for cutting through fungal tissue.

Ant Cricket

A minute, wingless cricket that lives inside ant nests as a social parasite. It is oval-shaped and moves quickly among its host ants.

💡

Did You Know?

It acquires its host ants' cuticular hydrocarbons to smell like them, allowing it to live undetected inside their colony.