Cantarida. Spanish Fly on Jara flower. Cistus albidus
by Guido Montanes Castillo
Title
Cantarida. Spanish Fly on Jara flower. Cistus albidus
Artist
Guido Montanes Castillo
Medium
Photograph
Description
Cantarida. Spanish Fly on Jara flower. Cistus albidus
This article is about the insect species. For the isolated chemical and its applications, see Cantharidin. For other uses of the term Spanish fly, see Spanish fly (disambiguation).
Spanish fly
Lytta-vesicatoria.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Meloidae
Subfamily: Meloinae
Tribe: Lyttini
Genus: Lytta
Species: L. vesicatoria
Binomial name
Lytta vesicatoria
(Linnaeus, 1758)
The Spanish fly (Lytta vesicatoria) is an emerald-green beetle in the blister beetle family (Meloidae). It and other such species were used in preparations offered by traditional apothecaries, often referred to as Cantharides or Spanish fly. The insect is the source of the terpenoid cantharidin, a toxic blistering agent once used as an aphrodisiac.
L. vesicatoria is sometimes called Cantharis vesicatoria,[1] although the genus Cantharis is in an unrelated family, Cantharidae, the soldier beetles.[2]
Cistus albidus, the grey-leaved cistus,[2] is a shrubby species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae, with pink to purple flowers, native to south-western Europe and western north Africa.
Cistus albidus grows up to 1 m (3 ft) tall. Its leaves are oblong to elliptical in shape, usually 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long by 0.5–2 cm (0.2–0.8 in) wide. They have three prominent veins and are densely covered with short hairs, producing a greyish-white appearance. The flowers are arranged in cymes of one to seven individual flowers, each 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) across with five purple to pink petals and five sepals.[3]
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May 20th, 2020
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