Category: Amazing Insects

Ants and termites have a pretty solid method of defense — overwhelming the enemy with swarms of soldiers and/or workers. But out of all the ways insects can defend themselves, suicide in the form of exploding — known as autothysis — is a viable option for some species. It seems rather silly but it’s quite effective.

Autothysis is a process in which the creature in question causes itself to explode and takes its name from the Greek roots “self sacrifice”. This is accomplished by rupturing a large gland usually found either near the head or in the abdomen. When the creature has successfully exploded, the enemy is coated with potentially corrosive material or tar-like substance that can slow or halt the assault.

Only a number of species of termites have developed this method of defense and even fewer species of carpenter ants have resorted to this method. Some termite species utilize autothysis because they do not have workers to defend the colony. Ant species that utilize autothysis take it to the next level, attempting to latch onto the enemy before exploding. This kills the attached enemy and any other invader that is hit.

In colony-forming insects like ants, termites, and bees, the defense of a nest typically involves utilizing overwhelming numbers to neutralize an invader. They use their sharp mandibles to chew apart their foes or their stingers with acid to paralyze prey. These are the basics tools of defense that most social insects possess, allowing them to protect the most important thing — the queen and her young.

Some ant species take defense of the colony even further. Various types have evolved the ability to spray their acid on enemies, allowing the acid to corrode invaders. This can be used as a neutralizing agent, allowing allied ants to finish off the invaders.

Deep in the rainforests, the most experienced chemical specialists are found. These creatures are able to both secrete and spray their concoctions at others, whether they be predators or prey.

For the velvet worm, this is an elementary feature. They can grow up to 6 inches in length and have many short legs. Although they are slow to move, their true danger lies in their oral tubes found underneath their antennae. These tubes act as cannons, shooting out streams of sticky slime made of proteins that quickly harden on whatever they hit. When the prey has been immobilized, the velvet worm tears into the victim’s exoskeleton and injects digestive enzymes, turning the prey into a smoothie.

Much like the blue butterfly from the previous post, the ichneumon wasp utilizes chemicals in order to trick the Myrmica ant species. However, they utilize a much crueler method. Instead of simply laying their eggs and allowing the ants to carry them away, the ichneumon wasp injects its eggs into the larvae of the blue butterfly.

Getting to these eggs is of considerable difficulty, as the wasp has to bypass all of the ants around the entrance to the nest as well as those tending to the larvae. When the wasp has located a colony that has taken-in a butterfly larvae, they rush into the ant nest. This seems foolhardy at first but the ichneumon wasp already has a plan. The moment it is attacked by the defenders, it releases a number of chemicals in the area. The chemicals neither kill nor stun; it disables the ants’ ability to detect pheromones, causing them to attack each other.

In all this madness, the ichneumon wasp safely injects its eggs into the blue butterfly caterpillars. As the caterpillars begin to cocoon, the wasp larvae eat away at the caterpillars from the inside, killing them. When the wasp larvae have completed their development into wasps themselves, they burst out of their silky prisons and rush out of the ant nest, spraying their chemicals to cause confusion again.

We as humans despise chemical weapons. They’ve been outlawed according to the Laws of War due to their inhumane and indiscriminate killing-potential. Such weapons include nerve gases and, the most well known, mustard gas. However, in the animal kingdom, there are no such boundaries.

A wide variety of both insects and animals use chemicals to stun, confuse, or kill other organisms. The alcon blue butterfly uses pheromones similar to the ones used by Myrmica ant species to not have to take care of their young. In this case, the worker ants seem to identify the larvae of the alcon blue butterfly as their own, carrying them back to the nest and caring for them until they hatch. When the butterflies do hatch, they continue to carry the scent of the host ants and walks out of the nest unharmed.