Rendering the inedible edible: Circumvention of a millipede’s chemical defense by a predaceous beetle larva (Phengodidae)
AUTOR(ES)
Eisner, Thomas
FONTE
The National Academy of Sciences
RESUMO
The larva of the phengodid beetle, Phengodes laticollis, feeds on the millipede, Floridobolus penneri, without risking exposure to the repellent benzoquinones ordinarily ejected by the millipede from its defensive glands when attacked. The phengodid subdues the millipede by piercing the millipede’s integument with its hollow sickle-shaped mandibles and apparently injecting gastric fluid. The infusion abruptly paralyzes the millipede, which thereby is prevented from discharging its glands. As the phengodid then imbibes the liquefied systemic contents of the dead millipede, the millipede’s benzoquinones remain harmlessly confined to the glands, prevented from diffusing into the millipede’s body cavity by the glands’ impervious cuticular lining. At the end of the meal only the millipede’s skeletal armor and glandular sacs remain uneaten. Analysis of such discarded sacs showed these to contain benzoquinones in amounts commensurate with those present in replete glands of living millipedes.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=18689Documentos Relacionados
- Circumvention of prey defense by a predator: ant lion vs. ant.
- Chemical defense: Aquatic beetle (Dineutes hornii) vs. fish (Micropterus salmoides)
- Defensive use of a fecal thatch by a beetle larva (Hemisphaerota cyanea)
- Defense by foot adhesion in a beetle (Hemisphaerota cyanea)
- Millipede defense: use of detachable bristles to entangle ants.
