Yellow-tipped Soldier Beetle

Malthinus occipitalis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Cantharidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Yellow-tipped Soldier Beetle
Photo: Jim Moore (Maryland), CC BY

The yellow-tipped soldier beetle is a member of the soldier beetle family Cantharidae. It occurs in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Malthinus occipitalis is the scientific name for the yellow-tipped soldier beetle.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

This species is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 16 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Yellow-tipped Soldier Beetle photo 2
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY
Yellow-tipped Soldier Beetle photo 3
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY
Yellow-tipped Soldier Beetle photo 4
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY
Yellow-tipped Soldier Beetle photo 5
Photo: Alessandro Franchini, CC BY

Questions people ask

Where is the yellow-tipped soldier beetle found?

It is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Cantharidae)

Common Red Soldier BeetleCommon Red Soldier BeetleRhagonycha fulvaGoldenrod Soldier BeetleGoldenrod Soldier BeetleChauliognathus pensylvanicusHarmlessMargined Leatherwing BeetleMargined Leatherwing BeetleChauliognathus marginatusRustic Sailor BeetleRustic Sailor BeetleCantharis rusticaLivid Soldier BeetleLivid Soldier BeetleCantharis lividaDark Sailor BeetleDark Sailor BeetleCantharis fusca

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthinus_occipitalis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.