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Soldier beetle

Family of beetles

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Historically, these beetles were placed in a superfamily "Cantharoidea", which has been subsumed by the superfamily Elateroidea; the name is still sometimes used as a rankless grouping, including the families Cantharidae, Lampyridae, Lycidae, Omethidae (which includes Telegeusidae), Phengodidae, and Rhagophthalmidae.

Soldier beetles often feed on nectar and pollen as well as predating other small insects. The larvae are caterpillar like, dark colored, active and covered in fine hairs, earning them the name velvet worms. They feed on the ground and in foliage hunting eggs, small insects, snails and other small creatures.

Evolutionary history

The oldest described member of the family is Molliberus from the Early Cretaceous (early Albian)–aged El Soplao amber from Cantabria, Spain, belonging to the tribe Cantharini in the subfamily Cantharinae. Other described genera include six from the early Late Cretaceous (early Cenomanian)–aged Burmese amber, with five belonging to Cantharinae and one to Malthininae, and Katyacantharis, from the Cenomanian-aged Agdzhakend amber of Azerbaijan, suggested to belong to Cantharinae. Indeterminate specimens have been reported from the Aptian-aged Koonwarra fossil bed of the Strzelecki Group, Australia and the Barremian-aged Lebanese amber.

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxonSpecies descriptionFormal description of a discovered speciesParaphylyType of taxonomic groupIUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological speciesSubtropicsGeographic and climate zoneCommon nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)