Abstract Six new species of the Australian myrmecophilous ptinid genus Polyplocotes are described from South Australia. Three are from the deserts of central Australia, one from the Franklin Islands in the Great Australian Bight, one from Eyre Peninsula and one from the Riverland region. Morphologically, the majority of these new species are conventional Polyplocotes, but two are less typical. The characters uniting the genus are explored in the discussion, and comparisons are made to related genera. Although the six new species described here have not been observed in the field, the species of this genus are known to be myrmecophilous, and ant – beetle interactions similar to those seen in other spider beetles might occur between these new species and their host ants.