Invertebrates
Soldier Beetle
Cantharidae · also called leatherwing
Clustered across a stand of late-summer goldenrod, soldier beetles work steadily between feeding on nectar and hunting small insects nearby, their soft, leathery wing covers giving them away instantly to anyone used to the harder shells of most other beetles.
Overview
The soldier beetle, family Cantharidae, is a widespread beetle group found in grassland and forest habitat across most of the world. Its distinctive soft, leathery wing covers and genuinely useful role preying on garden pests such as aphids make it one of the more ecologically beneficial and structurally distinctive beetle families most gardeners encounter.
A beetle that skipped the armour
While most beetles rely on a hard, protective shell, the soldier beetle instead gets by with soft, flexible wing covers, a structural trade-off that hasn’t stopped the family from becoming a genuinely effective natural pest controller in gardens worldwide.
Status
Least Concern — widespread and common across suitable grassland and forest habitat worldwide.
Soldier Beetle: common questions
Why is the soldier beetle also called the leatherwing?
A soldier beetle has notably soft, flexible, leathery wing covers rather than the hard, rigid shell typical of most other beetle families, a distinctive texture that gave the group its alternate common name, leatherwing, and sets it apart structurally from harder-shelled beetle relatives.
Is the soldier beetle helpful to have in a garden?
Yes, a soldier beetle preys on aphids and other small soft-bodied insects as both a larva and an adult, making the family a genuinely valuable natural pest control agent for gardens and farms dealing with common plant-feeding insect pests.
Where can you usually find soldier beetles?
A soldier beetle is commonly found on goldenrod and other late-summer flowers, where it feeds on nectar and pollen while also hunting for small insect prey nearby, making late-summer flower patches one of the more reliable places to spot the species.
Where do soldier beetles live?
Soldier beetle species are found in grassland and forest habitat across most of the world, with several thousand described species occupying a wide range of climates and terrain.