In this episode, Megan debunks the mythologies surrounding a very sultry poison. Beloved as an innuendo in sitcoms and raunchy comedies, cantharidin, aka Spanish Fly, has gained a reputation as an aphrodisiac/love potion. Be warned: Spanish Fly, a misnomer, is actually derived from the blister beetle. Can you guess why it’s called the blister beetle? Let’s just say that using Spanish Fly as an aphrodisiac has a low chance of spicing up your love life, but a very high chance of spicing up your insides…to the point of internal organ damage. Mutilated genitals anyone?

In this episode:

Spanish Fly Cocktail Recipe:

• 1 oz tequila (Jose Cuerva)
• 1 oz rum (Bacardi 151)
• 1 oz Kahula 
• Rich black coffee (as much as your heart desires)
• Whipped cream (as much as your heart desires)
• Cherry on top! 

 

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Episode Sources:

• Image 1: Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin.

• Image 2: An advertisement for Spanish Fly as an aphrodisiac.

• Image 3: A fresco depicting Greek fertility god, Priapus, the inspiration for the medical term “priapism”. If you’d like to see the un-blurred version, search “Priapism” on wikipedia.

• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/478535

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4432444/

• Whitman, D. et al. (2019) Antiparasitic Properties of Cantharidin and the Blister Beetle Berberomeloe majalis (Coleoptera: Meloidae). Toxins

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