Cardinal Click Beetle vs Common Kidney-Vetch

Ampedus cardinalis compared with Anthyllis vulneraria

Key Differences

Cardinal Click Beetle is Critically Endangered while Common Kidney-Vetch is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cardinal Click Beetle	Common Kidney-Vetch
Kingdom	Animalia (动物界)	Plantae (植物)
Phylum	Arthropoda (节肢动物门)	Magnoliophyta (木兰植物门)
Class	Insecta (昆蟲綱)	Magnoliopsida (木兰纲)
Order	Coleoptera (鞘翅目)	Fabales (豆目)
Family	Elateridae	Fabaceae
Genus	Ampedus	Anthyllis
Species	Ampedus cardinalis	Anthyllis vulneraria

Conservation Status

Cardinal Click Beetle

CR — Critically Endangered

Common Kidney-Vetch

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cardinal Click Beetle	Common Kidney-Vetch
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cardinal Click Beetle

Habitat

Inhabits temperate coniferous forests within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common Kidney-Vetch

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Oceanian and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (9 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Cardinal Click Beetle

The Cardinal Click Beetle (Ampedus cardinalis) is a species in the genus Ampedus. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits temperate coniferous forests within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Common Kidney-Vetch

Common Kidney-Vetch (<em>Anthyllis vulneraria</em>) is a flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat degradation and agricultural intensification across parts of its range. It is widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (nine countries), North America (Canada and the United States), and Oceania (Australia), occupying six distinct biome types and occurring within the Indomalayan and Oceanian biogeographic realms. The species typically grows in dry, calcareous grasslands, coastal cliffs, sand dunes, and rocky slopes, often favoring nutrient-poor soils. It is an important larval food plant for certain butterfly species, particularly the Small Blue butterfly in Europe, and contributes to soil fertility through nitrogen fixation via root nodules. Its cheerful yellow, orange, or red flower heads make it a recognizable component of chalk and limestone grassland communities. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.