2000/04/15 by Thomas Eisner, Daniel J. Aneshansley, Maria Eisner +3 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Environmental Science · Medicine · #Vanadium and Halogenation Chemistry #Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies #Medicinal plant effects and applications #Extant taxon #Mechanism (biology) #Secretion #Biology #Anatomy #Physics #Evolutionary biology #Biochemistry
paper · doi:10.1242/jeb.203.8.1265
openalex publication_date 2000/04/15 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
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.