Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was used to establish a method for rapid identification of different species of bolete mushrooms and determination of total mercury (Hg). In this study, 15 species of bolete mushrooms were used and the information of infrared spectra of 48 samples was collected. Meanwhile, the total Hg was determined with cold-vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy and direct mercury analyzer. The food safety of bolete mushrooms was evaluated according to provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for Hg recommended by the United Nations food and agriculture organization and the World Health Organization (FAO/WHO). The original infrared spectra were optimized with Norris smooth, multiplicative signal correction (MSC), second derivative, orthogonal signal correction and wavelet compression (OSCW). The spectra data were analyzed with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) after the optimal pretreatment. Then the discrimination model for different species of bolete mushrooms and prediction model of Hg content were established, respectively. The results showed that: (1) The cumulative contribution of first three principal components of PCA was 77.1%. Different species of boletes can be obviously distinguished in principal component score plot. It indicated that the chemical composition or contents were different in these species of boletes. (2) There were significant differences in total Hg contents in different samples and the total Hg content in the boletes were 0.17～15.2 mg·kg-1 dry weight (dw). If adults (60 kg) ate 300 g fresh bolete mushrooms a week, Hg intakes in a few samples were higher than the PTWI standard with potential risks. (3) The infrared spectra data in combination with the total Hg content was performed by partial least squares discriminant analysis. The mushroom samples with low (≤1.95 mg·kg-1 dw), medium (2.05～3.9 mg·kg-1 dw) and high (≥4.1 mg·kg-1 dw) total Hg content could be discriminated. Moreover, the more different the Hg content was, the more easily to distinguish. In addition, the prediction model of total Hg content of boletes was established. The R2 and RMSEE of the training set were 0.911 4 and 1.09, respectively while R2 and RMSEP of validation set were 0.949 7 and 0.669 5, respectively. The predictive values of total Hg content in boletes were approximate to the measured values which showed that the model has good predictive effect. Infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics can be used for rapid identification of bolete species and discrimination of bolete samples with different contents of total Hg. Furthermore, the total Hg content could also be predicted, accurately. This study may provide a rapid and simple method for quality control and edible safety assessment of wild-grown bolete mushrooms.