Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cantharides \Can*thar"i*des\, n. pl.
   See {Cantharis}.

Cantharis \Can"tha*ris\, n.; pl. {Cantharides}. [L., a kind of
   beetle, esp. the Spanish fly, Gr. kanqari`s.] (Zo["o]l.)
   A beetle ({Lytta, or Cantharis, vesicatoria}), havin1g an
   elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green color, and a
   nauseous odor; the blister fly or blister beetle, of the
   apothecary; -- also called {Spanish fly}. Many other species
   of {Lytta}, used for the same purpose, take the same name.
   See {Blister beetle}, under {Blister}. The plural form in
   usually applied to the dried insects used in medicine.