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Insects, along with having passive immunity, also show evidence of acquired immunity. [1] Social insects additionally have a repertoire of behavioural and chemical "border-defences" and in the case of the ant, groom venom or metapleural gland secretions over their cuticle. [29]
Viburnum lesquereuxii leaf with insect damage; Dakota Sandstone (Cretaceous) of Ellsworth County, Kansas. Scale bar is 10 mm. Knowledge of herbivory in geological time comes from three sources: fossilized plants, which may preserve evidence of defense (such as spines) or herbivory-related damage; the observation of plant debris in fossilised animal feces; and the structure of herbivore mouthparts.
Plants have evolved many defense mechanisms against insect herbivory in the 350 million years in which they have co-evolved.Such defenses can be broadly classified into two categories: (1) permanent, constitutive defenses, and (2) temporary, inducible defenses. [1]
This potential, however, can hinge on a number of the insect's traits. For example, hemipteran predators can use their sucking mouthparts to make use of leaves, stems, and fruits, but spiders with chelicerae cannot. [17] Still, insects widely considered to be purely carnivorous have been observed to diverge from expected feeding behavior. [18]
Insects accordingly employ multiple defensive strategies, including camouflage, mimicry, toxicity and active defense. [138] Many insects rely on camouflage to avoid being noticed by their predators or prey. [139] It is common among leaf beetles and weevils that feed on wood or vegetation. [138] Stick insects mimic the forms of sticks and leaves ...
A worker can explode suicidally and aggressively as an ultimate act of defense, an ability it has in common with several other species in this genus and a few other insects. [1] The ant has an enormously enlarged mandibular gland, many times the size of other ants, which produces adhesive secretions for defense. [2]
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Chemical defense is a strategy employed by many organisms to avoid consumption by producing toxic or repellent metabolites or chemical warnings which incite defensive behavioral changes. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The production of defensive chemicals occurs in plants, fungi, and bacteria, as well as invertebrate and vertebrate animals.