# Cantharis

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***Cantharis*** is a large genus of [soldier beetles](/source/Soldier_beetle) in the family [Cantharidae](/source/Cantharidae). They are a carnivorous genus with narrow and soft [elytra](/source/Elytra). They live in [meadows](/source/Meadow).

The poisonous [Spanish fly](/source/Lytta_vesicatoria) is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name *[Cantharis vesicatoria](/source/Cantharis_vesicatoria)*. It is also sometimes called "cantharis" in the [vernacular](/source/Vernacular), but it is actually unrelated to *Cantharis* and is not a member of the [Cantharidae](/source/Cantharidae) at all. It was classified there erroneously until [Johan Christian Fabricius](/source/Johan_Christian_Fabricius) corrected its name in his *Systema entomologiae* in 1775. He reclassified the Spanish fly in the new genus *[Lytta](/source/Lytta)* as *[Lytta vesicatoria](/source/Lytta_vesicatoria)*. It belongs to the family [Meloidae](/source/Meloidae).[1]

## Habitat

They live in [meadows](/source/Meadow) and arable land likely due to favorable [microclimatic](/source/Microclimate) conditions for their larva which prefer high relative [humidity](/source/Humidity). They occurred in high abundance.[2]

## Behavior

Both the adults and larva of this genus are, at least, partially carnivorous playing a role in [arthropod](/source/Arthropod) communities.[2] They will prey on a variety of [invertebrates](/source/Invertebrate), particularly soft-bodied species, such as [earthworms](/source/Earthworm), [dipteran](/source/Fly) larvae and [lepidopteran](/source/Lepidoptera) larvae. However their predation on invertebrates might be low under natural conditions with adults probably feeding mainly on nectar, pollen and honeydew.[3]

They can also serve as natural pest control for agriculture due to their high abundance and general carnivory.[2]

## Species

### Subgenus *Cantharis*

- *[Cantharis allosensis](/source/Cantharis_allosensis)* Pic, 1924
- *[Cantharis annularis](/source/Cantharis_annularis)* Menetriez, 1836
- *[Cantharis antennalis](/source/Cantharis_antennalis)* (Marseul, 1864)
- *[Cantharis ariasi](/source/Cantharis_ariasi)* (Mulsant, 1862)
- *[Cantharis assimilis](/source/Cantharis_assimilis)* Paykull, 1798
- *[Cantharis atrata](/source/Cantharis_atrata)* (Marseul, 1864)
- *[Cantharis basithorax](/source/Cantharis_basithorax)* Pic, 1902
- *[Cantharis beckeri](/source/Cantharis_beckeri)* (Pic, 1902)
- *[Cantharis brevicornis](/source/Cantharis_brevicornis)* (Kiesenwetter, 1852)
- *[Cantharis brullei](/source/Cantharis_brullei)* (Marseul, 1864)
- *[Cantharis cedricola](/source/Cantharis_cedricola)* Wittmer, 1971
- *[Cantharis cornix](/source/Cantharis_cornix)* (Abeille de Perrin, 1869)
- *[Cantharis coronata](/source/Cantharis_coronata)* Gyllenhal, 1808
- *[Cantharis corvina](/source/Cantharis_corvina)* Moscardini, 1962
- *[Cantharis cretica](/source/Cantharis_cretica)* Wittmer, 1971
- *[Cantharis cryptica](/source/Cantharis_cryptica)* Ashe, 1947
- *[Cantharis cypria](/source/Cantharis_cypria)* (Marseul, 1864)
- *[Cantharis darwiniana](/source/Cantharis_darwiniana)* Sharp, 1867
- *[Cantharis decipiens](/source/Cantharis_decipiens)* Baudi, 1871
- *[Cantharis decolorans](/source/Cantharis_decolorans)* Brullé, 1832
- *[Cantharis delagrangei](/source/Cantharis_delagrangei)* Delkeskamp, 1939
- *[Cantharis dissipata](/source/Cantharis_dissipata)* Gemminger, 1870
- *[Cantharis edentula](/source/Cantharis_edentula)* Baudi, 1871
- *[Cantharis ephippigera](/source/Cantharis_ephippigera)* (Brullé, 1832)
- *[Cantharis europea](/source/Cantharis_europea)* Pic, 1921
- *[Cantharis falzonii](/source/Cantharis_falzonii)* Fiori 1914
- *[Cantharis figurata](/source/Cantharis_figurata)* Mannerheim, 1843
- *[Cantharis flavilabris](/source/Cantharis_flavilabris)* Fallén, 1807
- *[Cantharis franciana](/source/Cantharis_franciana)* Kiesenwetter, 1866
- *[Cantharis fusca](/source/Cantharis_fusca)* [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), [1758](/source/10th_edition_of_Systema_Naturae) - **type species**
- *[Cantharis fuscipennis](/source/Cantharis_fuscipennis)* (Mulsant, 1862)
- *[Cantharis groehni](/source/Cantharis_groehni)*
- *[Cantharis hellenica](/source/Cantharis_hellenica)* Heyden, 1883
- *[Cantharis ictaria](/source/Cantharis_ictaria)* Fiori, 1914
- *[Cantharis inculta](/source/Cantharis_inculta)* Gene, 1839
- *[Cantharis instabilis](/source/Cantharis_instabilis)* Kiesenwetter, 1866
- *[Cantharis italica](/source/Cantharis_italica)* Fiori, 1914
- *[Cantharis kervillei](/source/Cantharis_kervillei)* Pic, 1932
- *[Cantharis liburnica](/source/Cantharis_liburnica)* Depoli, 1912
- *[Cantharis livida](/source/Cantharis_livida)* [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), [1758](/source/10th_edition_of_Systema_Naturae)
- *[Cantharis merula](/source/Cantharis_merula)* Moscardini, 1862
- *[Cantharis monacha](/source/Cantharis_monacha)* Moscardini, 1862
- *[Cantharis montana](/source/Cantharis_montana)* Stierlin, 1889
- *[Cantharis morio](/source/Cantharis_morio)* Fabricius, 1792
- *[Cantharis navka](/source/Cantharis_navka)* Kazantsev & Perkovsky, 2026
- *[Cantharis nevadensis](/source/Cantharis_nevadensis)* Pic, 1908
- *[Cantharis nigra](/source/Cantharis_nigra)* (De Geer, 1774)
- *[Cantharis nigricans](/source/Cantharis_nigricans)* Müller, 1766
- *[Cantharis nigricornis](/source/Cantharis_nigricornis)* (Laporte de Castelnau, 1840)
- *[Cantharis obscura](/source/Cantharis_obscura)* [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), [1758](/source/10th_edition_of_Systema_Naturae)
- *[Cantharis ochreata](/source/Cantharis_ochreata)* (Reiche, 1878)
- *[Cantharis paganettii](/source/Cantharis_paganettii)* (Flach, 1907)
- *[Cantharis palliata](/source/Cantharis_palliata)* Gyllenhal, 1808
- *[Cantharis pallida](/source/Cantharis_pallida)* Goeze, 1777
- *[Cantharis paludosa](/source/Cantharis_paludosa)* Fallén, 1807
- *[Cantharis paradoxa](/source/Cantharis_paradoxa)* Hicker, 1960
- *[Cantharis paulinoi](/source/Cantharis_paulinoi)* Kiesenwetter, 1870
- *[Cantharis pellucida](/source/Cantharis_pellucida)* Fabricius, 1792
- *[Cantharis peninsularis](/source/Cantharis_peninsularis)* Fiori, 1914
- *[Cantharis praecox](/source/Cantharis_praecox)* Gene, 1836
- *[Cantharis prusiensis](/source/Cantharis_prusiensis)* (Marseul, 1864)
- *[Cantharis pulicaria](/source/Cantharis_pulicaria)* Fabricius, 1781
- *[Cantharis pyrenaea](/source/Cantharis_pyrenaea)* Pic, 1906
- *[Cantharis quadripunctata](/source/Cantharis_quadripunctata)* (Müller, 1776)
- *[Cantharis reichei](/source/Cantharis_reichei)* Mulsant, 1862
- *[Cantharis rufa](/source/Cantharis_rufa)* [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), [1758](/source/10th_edition_of_Systema_Naturae)
- *[Cantharis rustica](/source/Cantharis_rustica)* Fallén, 1807
- *[Cantharis schrammi](/source/Cantharis_schrammi)* Pic, 1907
- *[Cantharis seidlitzi](/source/Cantharis_seidlitzi)* Kiesenwetter, 1865
- *[Cantharis soeulensis](/source/Cantharis_soeulensis)* Pic, 1922
- *[Cantharis sicula](/source/Cantharis_sicula)* Pic, 1906
- *[Cantharis smyrnensis](/source/Cantharis_smyrnensis)* (Marseul, 1864)
- *[Cantharis terminata](/source/Cantharis_terminata)* Faldermann, 1835
- *[Cantharis torretasoi](/source/Cantharis_torretasoi)* Wittmer, 1935
- *[Cantharis tristis](/source/Cantharis_tristis)* Fabricius, 1797
- *[Cantharis versicolor](/source/Cantharis_versicolor)* (Baudi, 1871)
- *[Cantharis xanthoporpa](/source/Cantharis_xanthoporpa)* Kiesenwetter, 1860

### Subgenus *Cyrtomoptila*

- *[Cantharis carsteni](/source/Cantharis_carsteni)*[4]
- *[Cantharis gemina](/source/Cantharis_gemina)* Dahlgren, 1974
- *[Cantharis lateralis](/source/Cantharis_lateralis)* [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), [1758](/source/10th_edition_of_Systema_Naturae)
- *[Cantharis pagana](/source/Cantharis_pagana)* Rosenhauer, 1847

## See also

- [List of Cantharis species](/source/List_of_Cantharis_species)

## References and notes

1. Selander, R. B. (1991). [On the nomenclature and classification of Meloidae (Coleoptera)](http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1415&context=insectamundi). *[Insecta Mundi](/source/Insecta_Mundi)* 5(2): 65–94.

1. Traugott, Michael (2006-04-01). ["Habitat use and activity patterns of larval and adult Cantharis beetles in arable land"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1164556305000567). *European Journal of Soil Biology*. **42** (2): 82–88. [Bibcode:2006EJSB...42...82T](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006EJSB...42...82T). [doi:10.1016/j.ejsobi.2005.10.001](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2005.10.001). [ISSN 1164-5563](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1164-5563)

1. Traugott, Michael (2003-01-01). ["The prey spectrum of larval and adult Cantharis species in arable land: An electrophoretic approach"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031405604701894). *Pedobiologia*. **47** (2): 161–169. [Bibcode:2003Pedob..47..161T](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Pedob..47..161T). [doi:10.1078/0031-4056-00179](https://doi.org/10.1078/0031-4056-00179). [ISSN 0031-4056](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0031-4056)

1. Fanti, Fabrizio (2025-12-30). ["Three new soldier beetles from Baltic and Rovno amber"](https://bjc.sggw.edu.pl/article/view/11075). *Baltic Journal of Coleopterology*. **25** (2): 207–216. [ISSN 1407-8619](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1407-8619)

## Further reading

- Wittmer W., Kasantsev S. (1997) On the classification of the genus *Cantharis* Linné (Coleoptera, Cantharidae). *[Entomologica Basiliensia](/source/Entomologica_Basiliensia)* 20: 367–372.

## External links

- [Biolib](https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id9585/)
- [Fauna europaea](https://web.archive.org/web/20140223125631/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=103086)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cantharis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantharis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantharis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.