There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect

Armoured ground crickets Acanthoplus discoidalis (Bradyporidae) have an arsenalof defence mechanisms in response to attack. Males but not females can stridulatewhen attacked, while both sexes will bite and regurgitate upon provocation. Theywill also autohaemorrhage. Here we have quantified these res...

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Main Authors: Bateman, Bill, Fleming, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00582.x/abstract;jsessionid=9A2420CDD0EC2C547FD3EBD0189984DF.f04t04
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11834
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author Bateman, Bill
Fleming, P.
author_facet Bateman, Bill
Fleming, P.
author_sort Bateman, Bill
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Armoured ground crickets Acanthoplus discoidalis (Bradyporidae) have an arsenalof defence mechanisms in response to attack. Males but not females can stridulatewhen attacked, while both sexes will bite and regurgitate upon provocation. Theywill also autohaemorrhage. Here we have quantified these responses, examininghow individuals of both sexes respond to repeated simulated predatory attackfrom the side (grabbing the legs with forceps) or from above (grabbing the animalby the pronotum). We found different responses depending on the method ofattack. When attack was directed from the side (at the legs) the crickets can bitetheir attacker and males stridulate intensely. About 62% of such attacks elicited anautohaemorrhage response, where the crickets squirt 1322mg of acrid-smellinghaemolymph 4363mm from seams in the connective tissue between thetrochanter and coxa of each leg and from under the pronotum. By contrast,animals attacked from above could not turn and bite their attacker, and stridulationwas also reduced in males. About 86% of such attacks elicited an autohaemorrhageresponse with 1919 mg of haemolymph projecting 1030mmfrom the body. Autohaemorrhaging is an effective form of chemical defenceagainst bearded dragon lizards Pogona vitticeps (Agamidae) and Aca. discoidalishaemolymph applied to Gryllus bimaculatus nymphs (which have no such chemicaldefence) successfully saved them from predation by striped skinks Trachylepispunctatissima (Scincidae).
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-118342019-02-19T04:26:46Z There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect Bateman, Bill Fleming, P. reflex bleeding anti-predator mechanisms disturbance stridulation haemolymph Armoured ground crickets Acanthoplus discoidalis (Bradyporidae) have an arsenalof defence mechanisms in response to attack. Males but not females can stridulatewhen attacked, while both sexes will bite and regurgitate upon provocation. Theywill also autohaemorrhage. Here we have quantified these responses, examininghow individuals of both sexes respond to repeated simulated predatory attackfrom the side (grabbing the legs with forceps) or from above (grabbing the animalby the pronotum). We found different responses depending on the method ofattack. When attack was directed from the side (at the legs) the crickets can bitetheir attacker and males stridulate intensely. About 62% of such attacks elicited anautohaemorrhage response, where the crickets squirt 1322mg of acrid-smellinghaemolymph 4363mm from seams in the connective tissue between thetrochanter and coxa of each leg and from under the pronotum. By contrast,animals attacked from above could not turn and bite their attacker, and stridulationwas also reduced in males. About 86% of such attacks elicited an autohaemorrhageresponse with 1919 mg of haemolymph projecting 1030mmfrom the body. Autohaemorrhaging is an effective form of chemical defenceagainst bearded dragon lizards Pogona vitticeps (Agamidae) and Aca. discoidalishaemolymph applied to Gryllus bimaculatus nymphs (which have no such chemicaldefence) successfully saved them from predation by striped skinks Trachylepispunctatissima (Scincidae). 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11834 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00582.x/abstract;jsessionid=9A2420CDD0EC2C547FD3EBD0189984DF.f04t04 Wiley-Blackwell restricted
spellingShingle reflex bleeding
anti-predator mechanisms
disturbance stridulation
haemolymph
Bateman, Bill
Fleming, P.
There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect
title There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect
title_full There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect
title_fullStr There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect
title_full_unstemmed There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect
title_short There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect
title_sort there will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect
topic reflex bleeding
anti-predator mechanisms
disturbance stridulation
haemolymph
url http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00582.x/abstract;jsessionid=9A2420CDD0EC2C547FD3EBD0189984DF.f04t04
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11834