![Lytta vesicatoria Lytta vesicatoria, surely an interesting beetle. <br />
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"Cantharidin, the principal active component in preparations of Lytta vesicatoria-derived Spanish fly, was first isolated and named in 1810 by Pierre Robiquet, a French chemist living in Paris,[citation needed] who demonstrated that it was the principle responsible for the aggressively blistering properties of this insect's egg coating; toxicity comparable in degree to that of the most violent poisons known in the 19th century, such as strychnine, was asserted." Lytta vesicatoria,Spanish fly](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2527/44144_medium.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=uisSkh2axTUpmijQ%2BMOJggFFz5A%3D)
Lytta vesicatoria
Lytta vesicatoria, surely an interesting beetle.
"Cantharidin, the principal active component in preparations of Lytta vesicatoria-derived Spanish fly, was first isolated and named in 1810 by Pierre Robiquet, a French chemist living in Paris,[citation needed] who demonstrated that it was the principle responsible for the aggressively blistering properties of this insect's egg coating; toxicity comparable in degree to that of the most violent poisons known in the 19th century, such as strychnine, was asserted."
The Spanish fly is an emerald-green beetle in the family Meloidae, ''Lytta vesicatoria''. Other species of blister beetles used by apothecaries are often called by the same name. ''L. vesicatoria'' is sometimes incorrectly called ''Cantharis vesicatoria'', but the genus ''Cantharis'' is in an unrelated family, Cantharidae.
Cantharidin is a powerful irritant vesicant substance obtained from many blister beetles, and sometimes given the nickname "Spanish fly". Cantharidin is claimed to.. more
