Photo by Bruce Marlin (Wikimedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nYou came back for Day 2 of Wild Facts – Interesting Insects? That is great, I am thrilled to have you here.\u00a0 Yesterday we talked about an extremely large insect so I figured we would downsize a bit today.\u00a0 Don’t worry though, it is still just as interesting.\u00a0 We are going to look at the Blister Beetle but you may know it as the “Spanish Fly”.<\/p>\n
The Blister Beetle varies in shape, colour and size depending on the exact species.\u00a0 Since there are about 7500 known species, there is a lot of variation between them.\u00a0 Have you ever wondered why they are called blister beetles?\u00a0 Well, they get this name since some of these numerous species contain a chemical called cantharidin which will actually cause your skin to blister.\u00a0 This is a great defense mechanism for the little bug but you may not want to play with these little guys. Actually, I would like to alter that last statement.\u00a0 You may not want to play with these little guys unless you have a bunch of warts.\u00a0 You see we use cantharidin to get rid of warts so maybe these insects will actually help you out.<\/p>\n
The most famous blister beetle, the emerald-green beetle known as the Spanish Fly is often used to encourage farm animals to mate.\u00a0 Yep, you read that right.\u00a0 The chemical can be used as an aphrodisiac\u00a0 and believe it or not some humans have tried it to make themselves more appealing.\u00a0 I don’t recommend this since a slight miscalculation can cause all sorts of problems such as fever and kidney failure.<\/p>\n
Blister Beetle Fast Fact: <\/strong>Apparently the wife of Augustus Caesar use to slip the Spanish Fly chemical in her guests food hoping to encourage inappropriate behaviour so she could blackmail them in the future.\u00a0 That is one house party you would not want to attend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You came back for Day 2 of Wild Facts – Interesting Insects? That is great, I am thrilled to have you here.\u00a0 Yesterday we talked about an extremely large insect so I figured we would downsize a bit today.\u00a0 Don’t worry though, it is still just as interesting.\u00a0 We are going to look at the Blister Beetle but you may know it as the “Spanish Fly”. The Blister Beetle varies in shape, colour and size depending on the exact species.\u00a0 Since there are about 7500 known species, there is a lot of variation between them.\u00a0 Have you ever wondered why <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,4024],"tags":[348,226,818,820,4025,821,822],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Blister](\"http:\/\/www.wild-facts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Lytta_aenea.jpg\" "\\"Lytta_aenea\\"")
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