Larvae of the Australian fossorial carabid Carenum anthracinum Macleay are described from reared material and compared with the reared larva of C. elegans Macleay and eight different unassociated larval types belonging to the complex. These larvae exhibit an extraordinary range of character states indicating clearly that their placement in the tribe Scaritini cannot be retained. An examination of adult characters and, in particular, the fore tibial dentition confirms that Carenum and allied genera form a separate tribe, the Carenini, which appears to be a sister group of the remaining Scaritini (including Clivinina).