CANTHARIDES
Etymology
Noun
cantharides (uncountable)
Spanish fly, a vesicant extracted from the beetle Lytta vesicatoria (syn. Cantharis vesicatoria), popularly held to have aphrodisiac properties.
Source: Wiktionary
Can*thar"i*des, n. pl.
Definition: See cantharis.
CANTHARIS
Can"tha*ris, n.; pl. Cantharides. Etym: [L., a kind of beetle, esp. the Spanish fly, Gr. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A beetle (Lytta, or Cantharis, vesicatoria), having an elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green color, and a nauseous odor; the blister fly or blister beetle, of the apothecary; -- also called Spanish fly. Many other species of Lytta, used for the same purpose, take the same name. See Blister beetle, under Blister. The plural form in usually applied to the dried insects used in medicine.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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