Just one British species, the 5-16mm Drilus flavescens (Fourcroy), found mostly on the chalk downlands of south-eastern England.  Larvae are predatory on snails and are highly distinctive in appearance: each abdominal segment has an upper and lower lateral fleshy spine bearing large numbers of mid-length hairs, giving the overall impression of a woolly-bear caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Arctidae).  Larvae overwinter in snail shells.

Adults are highly sexually dimorphic.  The male is winged, black with brown, pubescent elytra and looks similar to the Tenebrinid Lagria hirta (L.) but with strongly pectinate antennae.  The female is larviform, flattened, fleshy and rounded, and approximately five times the length of the male.