''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family

Cantharidae The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the Red coat (British army), red coats of early Bri ...

with narrow and soft

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

. The poisonous

Spanish fly The Spanish fly (''Lytta vesicatoria'') is an aposematic emerald-green beetle in the blister beetle family (Meloidae). It is distributed across Eurasia. The species and others in its family were used in traditional apothecary preparatio ...

is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometimes called "cantharis" in the

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

, but it is actually unrelated to ''Cantharis'' and is not a member of the

at all. It was classified there erroneously until

Johan Christian Fabricius Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is cons ...

corrected its name in his ''Systema entomologiae'' in 1775. He reclassified the Spanish fly in the new genus ''

Lytta '' Lytta vesicatoria'', the Spanish fly ''Lytta'' is a genus of blister beetles in the family Meloidae. There are about 70 described species in North America, and over 100 species worldwide. Selected species These species, and others, belong ...

'' as ''Lytta vesicatoria''. It belongs to the family

Meloidae Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematically colored, announcing their ...

.Selander, R. B. (1991)
On the nomenclature and classification of Meloidae (Coleoptera)
''

Insecta Mundi ''Insecta Mundi: A Journal of World Insect Systematics'' is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal of entomology, primarily devoted to insects, specifically "any non-marine arthropod". It is published by the Center for Systematic Ento ...

'' 5(2): 65-94.

European species

Subgenus ''Cantharis''

Cantharis livida var rufipes 01 05252009

* ''

Cantharis allosensis ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' Pic, 1924 * '' Cantharis annularis'' Menetriez, 1836 * '' Cantharis antennalis'' (Marseul, 1864) * '' Cantharis ariasi'' (Mulsant, 1862) * '' Cantharis assimilis'' Paykull, 1798 * '' Cantharis atrata'' (Marseul, 1864) * ''

Cantharis basithorax ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' Pic, 1902 * ''

Cantharis beckeri ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' (Pic, 1902) * ''

Cantharis brevicornis ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' (Kiesenwetter, 1852) * ''

Cantharis brullei ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' (Marseul, 1864) * ''

Cantharis cedricola ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' Wittmer, 1971 * ''

Cantharis cornix ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' (Abeille de Perrin, 1869) * ''

Cantharis coronata ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' Gyllenhal, 1808 * ''

Cantharis corvina ''Cantharis'' is a large genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae with narrow and soft elytra. The poisonous Spanish fly is superficially similar and is associated with the scientific name ''Cantharis vesicatoria''. It is also sometime ...

'' Moscardini, 1962 * '' Cantharis cretica'' Wittmer, 1971 * '' Cantharis cryptica'' Ashe, 1947 * '' Cantharis cypria'' (Marseul, 1864) * '' Cantharis darwiniana'' Sharp, 1867 * '' Cantharis decipiens'' Baudi, 1871 * '' Cantharis decolorans'' Brullé, 1832 * '' Cantharis delagrangei'' Delkeskamp, 1939 * '' Cantharis dissipata'' Gemminger, 1870 * '' Cantharis edentula'' Baudi, 1871 * '' Cantharis ephippigera'' (Brullé, 1832) * '' Cantharis europea'' Pic 1921 * '' Cantharis falzonii'' Fiori 1914 * '' Cantharis figurata'' Mannerheim, 1843 * '' Cantharis flavilabris'' Fallén, 1807 * '' Cantharis franciana'' Kiesenwetter, 1866 * ''

Cantharis fusca ''Cantharis fusca'' is a species of soldier beetle. ''C. fusca'' reaches a length of . Except for parts of the head and thorax, which are red or orange, this species is completely black. The body is flat and long, with a weak exoskeleton An ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758 - type species * '' Cantharis fuscipennis'' (Mulsant, 1862) * '' Cantharis hellenica'' Heyden, 1883 * '' Cantharis ictaria'' Fiori, 1914 * '' Cantharis inculta'' Gene, 1839 * '' Cantharis instabilis'' Kiesenwetter, 1866 * '' Cantharis italica'' Fiori, 1914 * '' Cantharis kervillei'' Pic, 1932 * '' Cantharis liburnica'' Depoli, 1912 * ''

Cantharis livida ''Cantharis livida'' is a species of soldier beetle belonging to the genus '' Cantharis'' family Cantharidae. Description ''Cantharis livida'' reaches a length of . The body of this species is flat and long, with a weak exoskeleton. The colour ...

, 1758 * '' Cantharis merula'' Moscardini, 1862 * '' Cantharis monacha'' Moscardini, 1862 * '' Cantharis montana'' Stierlin, 1889 * '' Cantharis morio'' Fabricius, 1792 * '' Cantharis nevadensis'' Pic, 1908 * '' Cantharis nigra'' (De Geer, 1774) * '' Cantharis nigricans'' Müller, 1766 * '' Cantharis nigricornis'' (Laporte de Castelnau, 1840) * '' Cantharis obscura''

, 1758 * '' Cantharis ochreata'' (Reiche, 1878) * '' Cantharis paganettii'' (Flach, 1907) * '' Cantharis palliata'' Gyllenhal, 1808 * '' Cantharis pallida'' Goeze, 1777 * '' Cantharis paludosa'' Fallén, 1807 * '' Cantharis paradoxa'' Hicker, 1960 * '' Cantharis paulinoi'' Kiesenwetter, 1870 * '' Cantharis pellucida'' Fabricius, 1792 * '' Cantharis peninsularis'' Fiori, 1914 * '' Cantharis praecox'' Gene, 1836 * '' Cantharis prusiensis'' (Marseul, 1864) * '' Cantharis pulicaria'' Fabricius, 1781 * '' Cantharis pyrenaea'' Pic, 1906 * '' Cantharis quadripunctata'' (Müller, 1776) * '' Cantharis reichei'' Mulsant, 1862 * '' Cantharis rufa''

, 1758 * '' Cantharis rustica'' Fallén, 1807 * '' Cantharis schrammi'' Pic, 1907 * '' Cantharis seidlitzi'' Kiesenwetter, 1865 * '' Cantharis sicula'' Pic, 1906 * '' Cantharis smyrnensis'' (Marseul, 1864) * '' Cantharis terminata'' Faldermann, 1835 * '' Cantharis torretasoi'' Wittmer, 1935 * '' Cantharis tristis'' Fabricius, 1797 * '' Cantharis versicolor'' (Baudi, 1871) * '' Cantharis xanthoporpa'' Kiesenwetter, 1860

Subgenus ''Cyrtomoptila''

* '' Cantharis gemina'' Dahlgren, 1974 * '' Cantharis lateralis''

, 1758 * '' Cantharis pagana'' Rosenhauer, 1847

References and notes

External links

Biolib

Fauna europaea
Cantharidae {{Cantharidae-stub

European species

Subgenus ''Cantharis''

Subgenus ''Cyrtomoptila''

See also

References and notes

Further reading

External links