Mordellidae

a family of insects of order Coleoptera.

The body in Mordellidae is 2–10 mm in length; the back is convex and the pronotum and head, bent under. There are more than 1,100 species, found mostly in the tropics and subtropics; in the USSR there are more than 120 species, most numerous in the steppe zone. The beetles usually remain on flowers, while the larvae develop in rotten wood or in the stems of herbaceous plants. The insects sometimes cause galls in plants (for example, in spurges). Some members of the family (for example, Mordellistena parvula) are harmful to cultivated crops; the larvae gnaw passageways in the stalks of sunflowers. Protective measures include destruction of the refuse left after harvesting.