Most adult Cantharidae fly readily, but in the

mountains and some islands there are species that

have lost their elytra and wings; some live under

stones at high altitude near the snow line.

Cantharidae were placed, with other soft-bodied

beetle groups such as Lampyridae (glowworms and

fireflies) and Lycidae (net-winged beetles), in their

own superfamily, Cantharoidea. However, all these

families are now in the superfamily Elateroidea,

notes

The name Cantharidae comes from

the ancient Greek kántharos, meaning

“a beetle.” The toxin cantharidin, once a

famous poison and supposed aphrodisiac,

is not from cantharids, but is secreted by

other beetles, particularly the Spanish Fly

Lytta vesicatoria (Meloidae), which is

superficially similar, being straight-sided

and soft-bodied, and had been classified

with cantharids in the 1700s

above | Chauliognathus

A large and widespread

cantharid genus. This

bicolored species from

an Ecuadorian rainforest

resembles Chauliognathus

domitus.

with the click beetles. The earliest known fossil

cantharid is Molliberus albae from Early Cretaceous

Spanish amber, 110 million years old.

opposite | Ichthyurus

The forked fishtail of this

common tropical genus is more

pronounced in the male.

below | Malthinus

flaveolus A small, delicate

cantharid that is found in

deciduous forests in May

in most of Europe, in this

case in Poland.