In most insects that feed by suction the mandibles are modified.
Biting mandibles; second maxillae completely fused.
The abdomen is oval, sandy-grey in hue and beset with warts and bristles; the prothorax forms a mobile neck for the large square head, which carries a pair of long and powerful toothed mandibles.
There are about 600 species in the family, the males being usually larger than the females, and remarkable for the size of their mandibles.
The mandibles are strong, adapted for biting the vegetable substances on which these beetles feed, and the palps of the second maxillae have three segments.