Cantharis pallida

Separating this species from Cantharis cryptica can be a challenge. Most references (but not Hackston) place emphasis on the elytral pubescence, all one length in pallida and a mix of long suberect hairs and short recumbent hairs in cryptica - and this does seem to be the easiest way of separating them in my experience (except perhaps for male genitalia). However none of the references I have seen acknowledge the presence of additional scattered erect dark hairs or bristles (maybe they're technically bristles so deemed irrelevant, but I'm never sure how the layman is meant to tell a stiff hair from a thin bristle). All the specimens of both species I've examined recently have had these, and in my opinion this could lead pallida to be misidentified as cryptica. Helpfully Duff includes diagrams of the hairs of the two species and although these diagrams do not show the erect hairs/bristles, the hairs shown are all clearly suberect at most.

I have encountered considerably more cryptica than pallida.

Cantharis pallida, Keswick (Cumbria, UK), 8th June 2019

The next two were males which I checked the genitalia to help rule out cryptica.

male Cantharis pallida, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 21st June 2019

male Cantharis pallida, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 4th July 2019

I was under the impression that only males could be separated by genitalia but I recently noticed that Duff has diagrams of the female apical sternites and these show the pair of central points being longer and more pointed on cryptica. I think on this one the pair of central points are slightly more promiment than Duff shows for pallida but closer to this than cryptica, however the few cryptica I've examined haven't been very clearly different in my opinion, so I need to do more work to understand how useful this is. In any case I think the elytral hairs confirm this one was pallida and the dark tips to the palps support this (though I have found cryptica can show dark tips to the palps at least on old poorly-preserved specimens).

female Cantharis pallida showing elytral hair, apical sternite and maxillary palps, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 25th June 2023