Spamming[edit]

There's been a little bit of spamming going on, IPs adding spamlinks to a ".com" and a ".co.uk". It isn't enough to semiprotect the article and there have been productive IP edits so I'd prefer not to cut that off. But, if it gets to be problematic, drop me a note at my User Talk and I can deal with it, possibly with a spam blacklist entry, or you can of course go through any of the usual venues for those sorts of requests. 03:25, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

pop culture[edit]

should we mention references like when Bill Cosby mentions putting it in women's drinks in a 1990 Larry King interview? 174.92.134.248 (talk) 09:09, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

GA Review[edit]

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Spanish fly/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: AryKun (talk · contribs) 04:43, 18 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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Entry evaluation[edit]

This article provides information on the Spanish fly’s taxonomy, a brief section on its life cycle and habitat, and an interesting section on the toxicity of its defensive chemical. A strength of this article is that it provides a unique and detailed section on the historical collection of this beetle’s defense chemicals and explains its biochemical mechanism in causing poisoning to humans. One really interesting thing I learned from this entry is that in some regions of the world, such as Morocco, this beetle is used in making spice blends. Another fact is that this beetle was used to make the first stink bomb in the world in Ancient China. Although this entry does provide very useful categories such as habitat and ecology, these sections can benefit more from more content. For example, it would be useful to understand what the climate is like, conservation efforts, and the impact of humans on their habitat.

Some categories in the outline missing about behavior include how they mate, their predators, and adult socialization. Although this entry provides information about how the larvae act as parasites by feeding on bee larvae, it is also important to understand the behaviors of male and female beetles during their mating process. The article does a good job of explaining the beetle’s predator behavior on bees but would benefit from information about who preys on the beetles. This would reveal more behavioral information about the beetles, such as how they use their defensive chemical. Finally, it would be helpful to understand how adult Spanish flies interact with each other, such as when competing for food or mating partners.

From the talk page, I noticed that this beetle is rated as high-importance in the WikiProject beetles community which could be justified by the usage of its secreted chemicals, which is used as a starting compound to synthesize a treatment for warts. I also noticed that this was a good article. I had initially thought that this entry required more important sections on behavior and that this entry would benefit from including more details in other sections, such as habitat and ecology. One thing that I noticed would justify this as a good article is its strong use of many references. Justinxuje (talk) 01:38, 16 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Physiology[edit]

I wish that the author included a section detailing the unique physiology of the Spanish fly that allows it to produce a chemical as dangerous as cantharidin. The beetle must have its own counter measures to prevent the toxic from harming itself. I found this fact about the beetle to be particularly interesting, so I would love to learn more about it! Oroblancos (talk) 05:25, 16 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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