''Cantharis livida'' is a species of

soldier beetle 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 coats of early British soldiers, hence the ...

belonging to the genus ''

Cantharis ''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 ...

'' 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 ...

Description

''Cantharis livida'' reaches a length of . The body of this species is flat and long, with a weak

exoskeleton An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

. The colour is quite variable, depending on the subspecies. Elytra are usually yellow or reddish-brown, but in the subspecies ''rufipes'' they are black or dark brown. The head, the thorax, the abdomen are bright red or orange. The long antennae are reddish, with darker tips. The legs are reddish, with brownish tarsi. These

s can be found on flowers, trees and shrubs from May to July, hunting for small insects. Also the larvae are predators, feeding on snails and earthworms.

Distribution

This species is present in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, in the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

, and in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. It has also been introduced to the eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Habitat

''Cantharis livida'' lives in bushes, edges of forests and meadows.

Subspecies

* ''Cantharis livida var. adusta'' Reitter * ''Cantharis livida var. inscapularis'' Pic, 1909 * ''Cantharis livida var. luteiceps'' Schilsky * ''Cantharis livida var. melaspis'' Chevrolat * ''Cantharis livida var. menetriesi'' Faldermann, 1838 * ''Cantharis livida var. nigripes'' Schilsky, 1889 * ''Cantharis livida var. rufipes'' Herbst, 1784 * ''Cantharis livida var. scapularis'' Redtenbacher 1858 * ''Cantharis livida var. sicula'' Bourgeois, 1893 * ''Cantharis livida var. varendorffi'' Reitter, 1904

References

Biolib

Fauna europaea

NCBI

Nature Spot
Cantharidae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1758 Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cantharidae-stub