TY - JOUR
T1 - Spray mechanism of the most primitive bombardier beetle (Metrius contractus)
AU - Eisner, Thomas
AU - Aneshansley, Daniel J.
AU - Eisner, Maria
AU - Attygalle, Athula B.
AU - Alsop, David W.
AU - Meinwald, Jerrold
PY - 2000/4
Y1 - 2000/4
N2 - 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 elytral tracks. M. contractus has two-chambered defensive glands typical of bombardier beetles, and its secretion, like that of other bombardiers, is quinonoid and hot. Its frothing mechanism, however, is unique for bombardiers and possibly illustrative of the ancestral glandular discharge mechanism of these beetles. M. contractus, thus, could be the least derived of extant bombardiers.
AB - 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 elytral tracks. M. contractus has two-chambered defensive glands typical of bombardier beetles, and its secretion, like that of other bombardiers, is quinonoid and hot. Its frothing mechanism, however, is unique for bombardiers and possibly illustrative of the ancestral glandular discharge mechanism of these beetles. M. contractus, thus, could be the least derived of extant bombardiers.
KW - Benzoquinone
KW - Bombardier beetle
KW - Carabidae
KW - Chemical defence
KW - Coleoptera
KW - Evolution
KW - Hydrocarbon
KW - Metrius contractus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034071941&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0034071941&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 10729276
AN - SCOPUS:0034071941
SN - 0022-0949
VL - 203
SP - 1265
EP - 1275
JO - Journal of Experimental Biology
JF - Journal of Experimental Biology
IS - 8
ER -