Spray mechanism of the most primitive bombardier beetle (Metrius contractus)

Citation
T. Eisner et al., Spray mechanism of the most primitive bombardier beetle (Metrius contractus), J EXP BIOL, 203(8), 2000, pp. 1265-1275
Citations number
37
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Biology,"Experimental Biology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
ISSN journal
0022-0949 → ACNP
Volume
203
Issue
8
Year of publication
2000
Pages
1265 - 1275
Database
ISI
SICI code
0022-0949(200004)203:8<1265:SMOTMP>2.0.ZU;2-A
Abstract
The bombardier beetle Metrius contractus discharges its defensive secretion as a froth that clings to its body, When attacked from the rear, it allows the froth to build up over the gland openings near the abdominal tip; when attacked from the front, it conveys the secretion forwards along special e lytral tracks. M, contractus has two-chambered defensive glands typical of bombardier beetles, and its secretion, like that of other bombardiers, is q uinonoid and hot. Its frothing mechanism, however, is unique for bombardier s and possibly illustrative of the ancestral glandular discharge mechanism of these beetles. M. contractus, thus, could be the least derived of extant bombardiers.