Myth of the Spanish fly

It is certainly found in Spain, but also in other countries in the Mediterranean region. It's known as the blister beetle and secrets a caustic substance which can easily produce blisters. This substance is called cantharidin and was isolated in 1810. Cantharidin that is reputed to be an aphrodisiac not the spanish fly insect, although the traditional way of obtaining the cantharidin is not to collect or extract it, but to gather the beetles and to crush them into a powder which will therefore contain cantharidin. This insect is not a fly and it is not really Spanish either