Defense secret
A defensive secretion is discharged from animals or plants liquid substance , which for the purpose of defense of alien enemies is used and damages or those directly impeded. Substances that act as signals to keep people away are known as allomones . An allomon that does not directly damage or hinder, for example only smells unpleasant, is not a defense secretion. On the other hand, defense secretions can also act as allomons if they can be seen by potential enemies from a great distance.
Defense secretions can be toxic , corrosive , irritating, or sticky , for example . Some of these secretions even act directly on the pain receptors of vertebrates. In addition to special glands, it can also be released through reflex bleeding , as in the oil beetle , or through explosions, as in the bombardier beetles , in spitting cobras via a canal of their poisonous teeth.
An example of mammals with irritating and unpleasant smelling defensive secretions are the skunks .
See also
source
- Rolf Gattermann (Ed.): Dictionary for the behavioral biology of animals and humans . Elsevier , 2006 (2nd edition), ISBN 3827417031