The subfamily Phloeocharinae is poorly defined and is therefore best recognized by a combination of characters shared by many other groups. The two species found in ECAS key out separately but each can be recognized by habitus alone (Fig. 1.19.6, 9.12.1). Additionally, Charhyphus picipennis LeConte is distinctive for its small, globular procoxae (Fig. 1.19.1), extremely flattened body and serrate lateral pronotal margins (Fig. 1.19.5).  Phloeocharis subtilissima Mannerheim can be distinguished from similar groups by its loosely clubbed antennae lacking long black macrosetae (as present in Trichophyia), lack of ocelli, and elytral epipleuron without a carina (Fig. 1.12.11).

Phloeocharines occur in western and eastern North America, but do not occur in most of the central United States. For most of ECAS, Phloeocharinae is represented only by C. picipennis, a species frequently found under the bark of hardwood trees (oak, beech, and others), especially in the earlier stages of decay when the sap is fermenting. Recently, the widespread Palearctic species P. subtilissima has been reported as established in a small park in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Majka and Klimaszewski 2004). In Nova Scotia it was collected from under and on the bark of dead trees and sometimes within the burrows of scolytine beetles (Majka and Klimaszewski 2004). Future collecting is necessary to confirm its long-term establishment in Nova Scotia and its possible establishment elsewhere. The diet of C. picipennis is unknown but P. subtilissima has been reported (in its native range) to feed on scolytine beetles within their galleries (Mazur 1995).