---
title: "Dark Sailor Beetle"
description: "Cantharis fusca — Insetti e ragni. Cantharis fusca, the dark soldier beetle, is a species of soldier beetle."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/dark-sailor-beetle
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Dark Sailor Beetle

> Cantharis fusca — Insetti e ragni. Cantharis fusca, the dark soldier beetle, is a species of soldier beetle.

- Scientific name: *Cantharis fusca*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta), `grassland` (Prati e campi)
- iNaturalist observations: 14043
- Wikidata: [Q1074834](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1074834)
- iNaturalist taxon: [61449](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/61449)

## Names

- en: Dark Sailor Beetle
- de: Gemeiner Weichkäfer
- fr: Cantharide commune
- pl: Omomiłek szary

## Countries with the most observations

DE (2691), DK (1900), RU (1210), FR (1090), NL (735), AT (521), BE (478), CZ (385), PL (383), FI (364), CH (336), IT (336)

## Summary

Cantharis fusca, the dark soldier beetle, is a species of soldier beetle.
Cantharis fusca reaches a length of 10–15 millimetres (0.39–0.59 in). 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 weak exoskeleton. These beetles have long feathery antennae, and comparatively long legs.
This species is common in large parts of Europe, and lives in bushes, edges of forests, and meadows. They hunt for small insects.
The larvae have black hairs, and also eat small insects. They are very cold-resistant, and can be seen crawling on the snow in…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantharis_fusca

## Photo

![Dark Sailor Beetle](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/dark-sailor-beetle/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jean-Paul Boerekamps · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118537258

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/dark-sailor-beetle?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).