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Soldier beetle

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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 common name. They are also known commonly as leatherwings because of their soft elytra.[1]

Soldier beetle
Temporal range: Albian–Present
Chauliognathus lugubris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Elateriformia
Superfamily: Elateroidea
Family: Cantharidae
Imhoff, 1856
Synonyms

Chauliognathidae

Soldier beetle filmed in Hesse, Germany
A wrinkled solder beetle flies into an aphid colony, eating an aphid before being chased away by the ants.
Wrinkled solder beetle searching foliage
goldenrod soldier beetles foraging on yellow ironweed.
goldenrod soldier beetles taking flight from yellow ironweed, followed by slow motion (taken at 3,840 frames per second.

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. [2] [3]

Evolutionary history

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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 6 from the early Late Cretaceous (early Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber, with 5 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.[4][5]

Subfamilies, tribes and selected genera

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Five subfamilies are normally accepted:

Cantharinae

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Chauliognathinae

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Dysmorphocerinae

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Malthininae

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  • tribe Malchinini
    • Macrocerus Motschulsky, 1845 - Europe (synonym Malchinus)
  • tribe Malthinini
    • Caccodes Sharp, 1885 - Central America, Pacific islands
    • Malthinellus Kiesenwetter, 1874 - Japan
    • Malthinus Latreille, 1805 - Japan, Europe, N. America
  • tribe Malthodini
    • Frostia Bert. ex Guill.
    • Malthodes Kiesenwetter, 1852 - mostly Europe, N. America & New Zealand
    • †Archaeomalthodes Hsiao et al. 2016 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian

Silinae

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Reproduction

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Large males of the soldier beetle exercise choice for larger females. Body size correlates with the abilities of males to secure females, and of females to evade males.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Phillips, C., et al. Leatherwing (Soldier) Beetles. Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University. 2013.
  2. ^ https://bugoftheweek.com/blog/2018/10/18/friendly-velvety-home-invaders-soldier-beetle-larvae-chauliognathus-spp, Friendly velvety home invaders: Soldier beetle larvae, 'Chauliognathus' spp., “Bug of the Week”, October 22, 2018
  3. ^ https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/soldier-beetles, Soldier beetles, “University of Minnesota Extension”, Reviewed in 2023
  4. ^ Peris, David; Fanti, Fabrizio (November 2018). "Molliberus albae gen. et sp. nov., the oldest Laurasian soldier beetle (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Spanish amber". Cretaceous Research. 91: 263–268. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.07.003. S2CID 134003163.
  5. ^ Kazantsev, Sergey V.; Perkovsky, Evgeny E. (2019-02-28). "The first Cretaceous beetle from Azerbaijan: Katyacantharis zherikhini gen. et sp. n. (Coleoptera, Cantharidae) from Cenomanian Agdzhakend amber". Palaeoentomology. 2 (1): 7. doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.1.2. ISSN 2624-2834. S2CID 86634741.
  6. ^ McLain, Denson K.; Pratt, Ann E.; Shure, Donald J. (June 2015). "Size dependence of courtship effort may promote male choice and strong assortative mating in soldier beetles". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 69 (6): 883–894. doi:10.1007/s00265-015-1900-6. ISSN 0340-5443. S2CID 253810679.
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