Ptinus rufipes
A family of small, often weirdly shaped beetles. Like the family name implies some do look like beetles, others remind you of ants. It is a very small family. Worldwide some 600 species have been found, in Central and Western Europe some 30 species have been discovered. Most species measure 5 mm tops. The antennae have 11 segments and are longer in males than in females. By the way, females and males often differ in many more respects and are often seen as separate species by mistake. Both larvae and adults can live under extremely dry circumstances. Their food is dry as well: dehydrated remains of plants and animals. Some species may become harmful chewing on precious insect collections, while others are just annoyingly present in storagehouses and stables, for even straw is favoured by some. We were unable to find good information about this Ptinus rufipes. We do know however that it likes to fool people. After it was caught it pretended to be dead. It was absolutely motionless. We were even able to turn it around to take pictures of the underside. But when we went into the kitchen to get a drink and forgot to put a glass over the little bugger, it was gone by the time we returned. We never saw it again...
The scientific name Bruchoptinus rufipes is also used for this species. And according to some Spider Beetles are not a separate family at all, merely a subfamily to the Woodworms. In that case the subfamily name is Ptininae.
