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Cantharis

Cantharis is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra.

Cantharis
Cantharis fusca mating
Kampinos Forest, Poland
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Cantharidae
Subfamily: Cantharinae
Tribe: Cantharini
Genus: Cantharis
Linnaeus, 1758

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

European species

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Subgenus Cantharis

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Cantharis decipiens
 
Cantharis lateralis
 
Cantharis livida
 
Cantharis pellucida
 
Cantharis rustica

Subgenus Cyrtomoptila

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See also

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References and notes

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  1. ^ Selander, R. B. (1991). On the nomenclature and classification of Meloidae (Coleoptera). Insecta Mundi 5(2): 65–94.

Further reading

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  • Wittmer W., Kasantsev S. (1997) On the classification of the genus Cantharis Linné (Coleoptera, Cantharidae). Entomologica Basiliensia 20: 367–372.
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