Abstract: A method for the determination of cantharidin by ultra performance liquid chromatography （UPLC） was established, and the difference in content of cantharidin between wild and artificial feeding Mylabris cichorii Linnaeus was compared. Cantharidin was extracted with 1% hydrochloric acid/acetone solution by ultrasonic,the UPLC method was performed on C₁₈ column with mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water（40∶60） at flow rate of 0.2 mL/min, ultraviolet detector was adopted inwavelengh of 230 nm, the column temperature was 35 ℃, and injection volume was 2 μL. The results showed that cantharidin showed a good linear relationshipin at the range of 0.02~1.00 mg/mL（R²=0.999 9）. The average recovery of cantharidin was in the range of 97.9%~100.9% at different spiked levels, and RSD was in the range of 1.7%~3.8%. The content of cantharidinin wild and artificial feeding Mylabris cichorii Linnaeus was 3.08% and 1.68% respectively, which were both higher than that required in Chinese Pharmacopoeia the cantharidin content in medichine material source should not be less than 0.35%. This method is accurate and reliable for the determination of cantharidin in cantharides. The artificial feeding Mylabris cichorii Linnaeus can be used as medicinal source of cantharidin.

Key words: cantharidin, UPLC, Mylabris cichorii Linnaeus