Production, regeneration and biochemical precursors of the major components of the defensive secretion of Eurycotis floridana (Dictyoptera, Polyzosteriinae)

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 601-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Farine ◽  
Claude Everaerts ◽  
Dehbia Abed ◽  
Remy Brossut
Keyword(s):  
Defensive Secretion ◽  
Eurycotis Floridana

Anatomy, ultrastructure, and functional morphology of the metathoracic tracheal defensive glands of the grasshopper Romalea guttata

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 2100-2108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas W. Whitman ◽  
Johan P. J. Billen ◽  
David Alsop ◽  
Murray S. Blum
Keyword(s):  
Secretory Cell ◽  
Tactile Stimulation ◽  
Defensive Secretion ◽  
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Duct Cell ◽  
Secretory Cells ◽  
Glandular Tissue ◽  
Golgi Bodies ◽  
Romalea Guttata ◽  
Defensive Glands

In the lubber grasshopper Romalea guttata, the respiratory system produces, stores, and delivers a phenolic defensive secretion. The exudate is secreted by a glandular epithelium surrounding the metathoracic spiracular tracheal trunks. Embedded in the glandular tissue are multiple secretory units, each comprised of a basal secretory cell and an apical duct cell. Secretory cells have numerous mitochondria, a tubular, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, well-developed Golgi bodies, and a microvillilined vesicle thought to transfer secretion to the intracellular cuticular duct of a duct cell. Ducts empty into the metathoracic tracheal lumina where the exudate is stored behind the closed metathoracic spiracle. Tactile stimulation elicits secretion discharge, which begins when all spiracles except the metathoracic pair are closed and the abdomen is compressed. Increased hemostatic and pneumatic pressures drive air and secretion out of the spiracle with an audible hiss. Both metathoracic spiracles discharge simultaneously. The secretion erupts first as a dispersant spray, then as an adherent froth, and finally assumes the form of a slowly evaporating repellent droplet. Discharge force and number vary with eliciting stimuli, volume of stored secretion, and age, disturbance state, and temperature of the insect. Molting grasshoppers are unable to discharge because the stored exudate is lost with the shed cuticle. The advantages and limitations of a tracheal defensive system are discussed.

Triterpene saponin hemi-biosynthesis of a leaf beetle’s (Platyphora kollari) defensive secretion

2007 ◽  
Vol 94 (7) ◽  
pp. 601-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Ghostin ◽  
Jean-Louis Habib-Jiwan ◽  
Raoul Rozenberg ◽  
Désiré Daloze ◽  
Jacques M. Pasteels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Defensive Secretion ◽  
Triterpene Saponin
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