: any of a family (Staphylinidae) of often predatory active beetles having a long body and very short elytra beneath which the wings are folded transversely
called alsostaphylinid
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But the rove beetles are much, much more diverse than the ants.—Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 27 Sep. 2023 For protection, many rove beetle lineages independently evolved diverse defense glands that spray noxious chemicals from different points on their abdomen.—Quanta Magazine, 16 Aug. 2021 One of Andrew’s colleagues estimates that over 3 trillion insects from one family alone, the rove beetles, may have perished so far.—Matt Simon, Wired, 8 Jan. 2020
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