Aphrodisiac frogs

1991/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

The legionaries located in the north of the frika indicated that they had long and painful erections. It was shown that the reason was to eat rana meat contaminated by the coleoptera of the melons family.

At the end of the last century, the Northern African legionaries declared two French doctors who had long, painful erections. According to the studies carried out by these, it was possible to verify that the reason was to eat rana meat contaminated by the coleoptera of the family of the melometers. These insects live in the villages of the Mediterranean and produce a toxin called cantaridine. This toxin irritates the skin, is harmful to the kidneys and even aphrodisiac.

This small story has long been known, but the entomologist Thomas Eisner of Cornell University in New York has tested the existing theories. When the frogs feed on melodies, the cantaridine extends to its entire body. It is found in the skin, in the muscles, in the chu, in the intestine, etc., but without affecting it.

The toxin does not last long and if the frog does not eat melon for a few days, the toxin disappears. This researcher, therefore, has confirmed the problems that may arise from eating these frogs.

Insects and fish that accumulate ingested toxins are known. However, finding examples among vertebrates is very rare. According to Eisner, frogs could protect themselves through cantaridine, but animals that eat frogs do not show symptoms of intoxication.