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Additionally, these insects tend to be relatively large, long-lived, active, and frequently aggregate. [2] Indeed, longer-lived insects are more likely to be chemically defended than short lived ones, as longevity increases apparency. [9] Throughout the arthropod and insect realm, however, chemical defenses are quite unevenly distributed.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloid sequestration by insects is a strategy to facilitate defense and mating. Various species of insects have been known to use molecular compounds from plants for their own defense and even as their pheromones or precursors to their pheromones.
The damage caused can be fatal to attacking insects. Some bombardier beetles can direct the spray in a wide range of directions. The beetle's unusual defense mechanism has been claimed by some creationists as something that could not have evolved, although this is refuted by evolutionary biologists. [2]
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 ...
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]
Illustration of an archerfish shooting water at an insect on a hanging branch. Although projectiles are commonly used in human conflict, projectile use by organisms other than humans is relatively rare. However, some organisms are capable of using various different types of projectiles for defense or predation.
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]
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.