![]() ![]() Last year I found many of these wonderful, curious red-striped creatures, at the end of March, in the countryside near Asilah, south of Tangier in Morocco. Given that we have only seen one does this mean that there will be larger numbers in the vicinity? Does anyone know whether this beetle originates from this area or did it migrate from elsewhere. We googled its description and found it in this chain discussion. We live adjacent to a golf course in Alcaidesa, Southern Spain and we recently came across this unusual creature. I don’t know exactly where that name comes from, but I would guess the “yellow (loira)” part would either derive from the orange stripes or would be phonetically derived from “louca” (I have also seen this name being used: “vaca-louca”, mad cow), perhaps due to its extreme defense mechanism. Indeed, you got the meaning right: it does mean blonde cow in portuguese. Do you know why it has this name? I get “Vaca” meaning “cow” but Loira I looked up in a dictionary and it said this meant “Blonde” or “pale” The portuguese name that is used in the Alentejo region is “vaca-loira”.Īnd thank you to Paulo for the Alentejo name of this interesting little bug…. I did have some thoughts for the poor beetles as well! He told me that the calf would only try this once – never attempting this again so foul is the taste! He had kept cattle all his life and said that in order to stop the calves taking it’s mothers milk, they would smear some oil beetles on the udder and teats of the cow. Hi All! One of the more curious rural stories about the use of this particular insect was told to me one day several years ago by an Andaluccian farmer, near where we live. Written by Stephen Daly, December 02, 2008 Aceitera – as they are capable of releasing a toxic and oily liquid, containing cantharidin.Curita – used in Andalusia for its resemblance to the look of seminary students who historically wore black cassocks with a red waist band.The Spanish common names are many, the two most used are: Oil Beetle – Berberomeloe insignis – Aceitera
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