@ekaitz_zarraga I didn’t mean to yell. The entire thing is fascinating. Thank you!

@ekaitz_zarraga YOU MEAN PEOPLE JUST PICK IT OFF TREES?

I…had not considered that option.

@ekaitz_zarraga Dried would make sense! I just keep tripping over that “secretion” thing and wondering if there’s little, uh, beetle ranches.

Because being the person who scrapes that stuff off the inside of tiny beetle cages must be a trip.

All right, internet. I have a (somewhat burning) question.

How exactly do they get cantharidin from the beetles? Do they grind up the dead beetles and extract it in a solution, or do they get the excretions from live ones?

I’m talking about cantharidin as a topical vesicant used in dermatology, naturally.

I just need to know how it’s extracted.

I’m trying to figure out if the crush-and-extract is better than the prospect of, say, hand-milking them, or scraping off the inside of their little beetle habitats after the beetles have been…excited enough to secrete.

Is it different for different uses? Is the cantharidin extracted by crushing for industrial uses and beetle-milking for dermatological ones?

My Google-fu has sadly betrayed me in this one instance.

(All this started because when I looked “cantharidin” up Wikipedia informed me that the stuff is a “copulatory gift” from the male beetle to the female, and…well, you can’t just TELL me that, you know?)

(So like, do you have to…excite the beetle, before it produces the burning stuff? And if you do, how is that done before one, uh, gets the “copulatory gift” for use in medicine and industry?)

(I AM TRYING SO HARD *NOT* TO MAKE A BEETLE PORN JOKE HERE, YOU GUYS. IT IS SO DIFFICULT.)

(You seriously cannot give me the words “copulatory gift” and expect me not to have questions. It’s just impossible.)

Anyway, if any scientists, beetle scientists, or dermatologists know, I’d love to hear exactly how the cantharidin is extracted. I can’t find the details anywhere.

So, uh…If I did a Twitch knitting session where I answered questions about the Valentine series and did a deep dive into its background, would anyone be interested?