Structural adaptations and mechanism of reflex bleeding in the larvae of the myrmecophilous ladybird Diomus thoracicus - INRAE - Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Arthropod Structure and Development Année : 2017

Structural adaptations and mechanism of reflex bleeding in the larvae of the myrmecophilous ladybird Diomus thoracicus

Résumé

Reflex bleeding is an effective defensive mechanism against predators. When attacked, some insects emit hemolymph, which coagulates, quickly entangling their aggressor. Bleeding occurs at weak intersegmental membranes or through dedicated organs, which can be associated or not with glandular cells. Here, we describe the behavior and morphological structures involved in reflex bleeding in the larvae of the ladybird, Diomus thoracicus, which are intranidal parasites of the ant Wasmannia auropunctata. The larvae are tolerated by the ants thanks to odor mimicry, but some rare aggressive ant behaviors were observed that trigger reflex bleeding both at a pair of thoracic tubercles and a pair of posterodorsal abdominal humps. No glandular structure was found in association with these emission points, which suggests that the material emitted was hemolymph only. A 3D reconstruction suggested that reflex bleeding seems to be controlled by muscles whose contraction increases the internal hydrostatic pressure and pushes the hemolymph into a funnel-like structure with an opening to the outside. In D. thoracicus, the morphological structures involved in reflex bleeding are among the most complex and prominent described to date.

Domaines

Biologie animale
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-02014279 , version 1 (11-02-2019)

Identifiants

Citer

Olivier Roux, Amélie Vantaux, Frédéric Petitclerc, Jérôme Orivel, Alain Dejean, et al.. Structural adaptations and mechanism of reflex bleeding in the larvae of the myrmecophilous ladybird Diomus thoracicus. Arthropod Structure and Development, 2017, 46 (4), pp.529-536. ⟨10.1016/j.asd.2017.06.002⟩. ⟨hal-02014279⟩
183 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More