Syntelia

{{short description|Genus of beetles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| oldest_fossil = Cenomanian

| image = Syntelia (cropped).jpg

| image_caption = Syntelia sp. collected from Sichuan, China

| display_parents = 4

| parent_authority = Lewis, 1882

| taxon = Syntelia

| authority = Westwood, 1864

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = Syntelia histeroides

Syntelia davidis

Syntelia indica

Syntelia mazuri

Syntelia mexicana

Syntelia sinica

Syntelia westwoodi

}}

Syntelia is a genus of beetles. It is the only genus in the family Synteliidae. There are seven known species, which are native to high-elevation regions in southern North America from central Mexico to Guatemala, and in eastern Asia, from India to Japan and eastern Russia. They are generally associated with rotting logs, typically found under bark, though the Mexican species S. westwoodi has been found inside large decaying columnar cacti. Adults and larvae are predatory, feeding on insect larvae.Newton, Alfred F.. "Synteliidae Lewis, 1882: Coleoptera, Beetles". Handbook of Zoology Online, edited by Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016.{{cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Hong-Zhang |last2=Yu |first2=Xiao-Dong |title=Rediscovery of the family Synteliidae (Coleoptera: Histeroidea) and two new species from China |journal=The Coleopterists Bulletin |date=2003 |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=265–273 |doi=10.1649/555|s2cid=85760650 }} A fossil species, Syntelia sunwukong, is known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber of Myanmar.{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Rixin |last2=Wang |first2=Shuo |date=November 2020 |title=Syntelia sunwukong sp. nov., the oldest Synteliid beetle (Coleoptera: Histeroidea) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667120303967 |journal=Cretaceous Research |language=en |volume=119 |page=104709 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104709|s2cid=229491621 }} Adults are around {{Convert|1-3.5|cm|in}} in length. The characteristics of the family and genus include geniculate antennae with 3-segmented club, elongate body, narrowly separated coxae and tarsi with bisetose empodia. Only one abdominal segment is exposed behind elytra.Hansen, M. (1997). "Phylogeny and classification of the staphyliniform beetle families (Coleoptera)". Biologiske Skrifter. 48, Copenhagen. The genus described by John O. Westwood in 1864, while the family was erected by George Lewis in 1882. They are members of Histeroidea, which also includes clown beetles (Histeridae).