Spanish fly

noun

1. Also called cantharides. a preparation of powdered blister beetles, especially the Spanish fly, used medicinally as a counterirritant, diuretic, and aphrodisiac.

2. Also called cantharis. Also Spanishfly a common European blister beetle, Cantharis (Lytta ) vesicatoria, that yields this preparation.

Spanish fly

noun

1. a European blister beetle, Lytta vesicatoria (family Meloidae ), the dried bodies of which yield the pharmaceutical product cantharides

2. another name for cantharides

Word History and Origins

Origin of Spanish fly¹

First recorded in 1400–50; so called from the fact that the beetles are found in abundance in Spain