Due to the small size of individuals in this family little is known of their habitat and ecology. These beetles often have an elongated body shape with short stout elytra that expose most of the bottom half of the abdomen. They are small, mostly less than 5 millimetres long and usually reddish brown or yellow in colour. They prey on minute organisms like Collembola and are found in leaf litter, decaying matter such as rotten wood, under bark, in moss, under logs and stones and even in the nests of ants and termites.