Spanish fly
The Spanish fly is a slim beetle that shines bright golden green, like a little jewel. Its shiny colour is a warning to hungry animals, because its body holds a strong chemical that makes skin blister. Look at it with your eyes only.
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Fun facts
Its babies hitchhike. They climb a flower, grab onto a visiting bee with three tiny claws and ride back to the bee's nest.
Only the males make the blistering chemical. They give some of it to the females as a gift.
When it is bothered, it oozes a milky liquid from its leg joints.
These beetles like to sit together in the open, where their bright green colour warns everyone to stay away.
Most asked questions about Spanish fly
?Is the Spanish fly a fly?
No. Even though it is called a fly, it is a beetle.
?How big is a Spanish fly?
It is about 2 centimetres long and half a centimetre wide.
Myth buster
Myth: The Spanish fly is a fly.
Truth: No. Despite its name it is a beetle, one of the blister beetles.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lytta vesicatoria
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Meloidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Meloidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Lytta vesicatoria (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Franco christophe. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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