title: One hundred million years of chemical warfare by insects.
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.
authors: Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. poinarg@science.oregonstate.edu
authors: G O
authors: GO
authors: Poinar
authors: C J
authors: CJ
authors: Marshall
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Buckley
mesh_terms: D018647:Amber; D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005088:Exocrine Glands / Q000378:metabolism; D005580:Fossils; D010675:Pheromones / Q000502:physiology*; D011235:Predatory Behavior
chemical_list: D018647:Amber; D010675:Pheromones
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