The toxicity of cantharidin is well documented with as little as 10 mg of the
pure chemical causing death in an adult (Till and Majmudar, 1981) although some
have survived doses of up to 75 mg with treatment (Presto and Muecke, 1970).
Most beetles of the Mylabris species contain not less than 1% cantharidin (Moat
et al., 1986). Half of a roasted beetle belonging to the Meloidae family of beetles
was reported to cause cantharidin poisoning in children aged 5 and 21
2 years
(Mallari et al., 1996). The number of beetles ingested in our case was not known,
but it was large enough to cause typical signs and symptoms of cantharidin
poisoning which are directed toward the gastrointestinal tract and the
genitourinary tract, i.e. the routes of absorption and elimination (Manoguerra and
Rumack, 1995).