Family: Staphylinidae
Subfamily: Phloeocharinae
Length: 3.0-3.5 mm
Charhyphus picipennis is flattened to cope with life under the tight-fitting bark of dead trees. Much of the beetle is black, while the antennae and legs are paler.
Charhyphus is a far-flung genus, with C. picipennis ranging from eastern Canada to the southern Appalachians, a second species found in Arizona, a third in eastern Siberia, and two more in Mexico and Guatemala.
American Beetles (2001) notes that this subfamily, Phloeocharinae, is poorly defined, and historically "has been a dumping ground for relatively primitive staphylinids that do not fit well elsewhere."
