| Title: | One hundred million years of chemical warfare by insects |
| Author(s): | Poinar GO; Marshall CJ; Buckley R; |
| Address: | "Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. poinarg@science.oregonstate.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-007-9343-9 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0098-0331 (Print) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "An important defensive strategy among animals is the use of chemical compounds with toxic or irritating properties. In this paper, we report the discovery of an Early Cretaceous soldier beetle (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) in Burmese amber that seemingly employed a chemical defense response against a potential predator. Six pairs of cuticular vesicles with associated gland reservoirs were extruded from the insect's abdomen, and a secretion released from one of these covers a portion of the antenna of a second insect species, considered to be the perpetrator of the response. This is the earliest fossil record of a putative chemical defense response and suggests that chemical defense mechanisms in beetles have been in existence for at least 100 Ma" |
| Keywords: | Amber Animals Coleoptera/*physiology Exocrine Glands/metabolism *Fossils Pheromones/*physiology Predatory Behavior; |
| Notes: | "MedlinePoinar, G O Jr Marshall, C J Buckley, R eng 2007/08/11 J Chem Ecol. 2007 Sep; 33(9):1663-9. doi: 10.1007/s10886-007-9343-9. Epub 2007 Aug 10" |
