Poison sting

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Hornet with the stinger extended
Wasp sting in the scanning electron microscope

A poison sting is a pointed piercing device with which animals can inject a poisonous secretion into other animals. It is mainly used to ward off enemies and to paralyze prey .

For example, certain subfamilies of ants , bees and wasps, have a poison sting . The poison sting of aculeaten hymenoptera such as bees and wasps has evolved from an original ovipositor . Therefore, only female wasps and bees have this characteristic and can sting with it. The male drones lack the sting.

The South American beetle Onychocerus albitarsis ( Coleoptera , Cerambycidae ) has poisonous spines at the ends of its antennae that are very similar in structure to those of the yellow Mediterranean scorpion. In the event of threats, it stabs its opponent in a targeted manner with the very movable antennae. Other representatives of the genus Onychocerus show neither such behavior nor have they developed a poisonous sting.

The venomous spines of the scorpions are a feature that distinguishes the order scorpions from all other modern arachnids .

Poisonous fish also have poisonous spines, such as B. stingrays , stonefish and scorpion fish .

The males of the platypus have a poisonous spur on the hind foot and therefore are the only mammals with a poisonous sting.

The pointed chelicerae of the spider are not poisonous spines.

Even fictional animals , such as the Manticore is given a poisonous sting.

literature

  • Lexicon of Biology. 6th volume, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2001 ISBN 3-8274-0331-6

Web link

Individual proof

  1. Amy Berkov, Nelson Rodríguez and Pedro Centeno: Convergent evolution in the antennae of a cerambycid beetle, Onychocerus albitarsis, and the sting of a scorpion. In: Naturwissenschaften 2008, Volume 95, No. 3, pp. 257–261, doi : 10.1007 / s00114-007-0316-1 .