Arthropods chemical defenses

The literature on arthropod chemical defensive secretions is so thoroughly covered in reviews (472-482) that it will be discussed only briefly here. A recent and detailed book is that of Blum (68). 

An excellent review by Roth and Eisner (63) summarized the chemical defense substances found in arthropods up to 1962. These authors listed 31 defense substances of known structure one anhydride, three carboxylic acids, nine aldehydes, one furan, three hydrocarbons, two ketones, one lactone, eight quinones, and three inorganic compounds. Many of these same compounds (unsaturated aldehydes and quinones) have been found in other arthropods since 1962 (38). The compounds are discharged when the animal is disturbed by predators, and there can be no doubt that the action of most of them... 

Blum, M. (1981) Chemical Defenses of Arthropods (Academic, New York). 

Blum MS (1981) Chemical defenses of arthropods. Acad Press, New York... 

Eisner T (1970) Chemical defense against predators in arthropods. In Sondheimer E, Simeone JB (eds) Chemical ecology. Academic Press, New York, p 157... 

Blum, M. S. "Chemical Defenses of Arthropods" Academic Press New York, 1981. 

The presence of catechols and more complex, oxidizable polyphenols in nature is widespread, and their functions are not limited to chemical defense. However, biological control of their oxidation is usually a feature of their function, as it is (1) in melanin synthesis,3 (2) in immunologically mediated delayed-type hypersensitivity responses,4 (3) in the hardening or curing of arthropod secretions (for example, as in the surface attachment adhesives of the barnacle and in tanning of the cuticle in insects),5 as well as (4) in defensive mechanisms in higher plants, particularly in the unleashing of immediate necrotrophic responses.6... 

T. Eisner, Chemical Defense against Predation in Arthropods. In Chemical Ecology, E. Sondheimer, J. B. Simeone, Eds. Academic Press New York, 1970 pp 157-217. 

The most well-known functions of secondary metabolites among arthropods include the use of pheromones for intraspecific communication, the employment of antipredatorial defensive agents, and the offensive use of paralytic and/or toxic agents, such as in the form of venoms, for the acquisition of prey. In recent years, considerable insight has been gained in all three categories, as well as in the discovery of heretofore unknown interactions (see Section 2.04.4.1). Fossil evidence of chemical defense in the insects reaches as far back as the Early Cretaceous period. The chemical defense of insects has been reviewed as... 

Clark VC, Raxworthy CJ, Rakotomalala V, Sierwald P, Fisher BL. Convergent evolution of chemical defense in poison frogs and arthropod prey between Madagascar and the Neotropics. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005 102 11617-22. 

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