cantharides

These are, principally, cantharides and yohimbine, both of which stimulate sexual arousal by irritating the urinary tract when excreted. Cantharides, or cantharidin, consists of the broken dried remains of the blister beetle (q.v.) Lytta vesicatoria. It has been a traditional sexual stimulant fed to male livestock to facilitate…

Cantharidin is used by blister beetles for defense and is released from the mouths and leg joints when the insects are crushed, threatened, or handled. The substance is collected mainly from Mylabris and the emerald green European species Lytta vesicatoria, commonly called Spanish fly.…