Burial armor Nitrophorus orbicollis
Some beetles look for dead rats or birds, bury the carcasses, and after removing their fur or feathers, roll the flesh into balls and cover them with mucus. All that the beetles do, while sounding disgusting, is actually "well-intentioned" – all to avoid starvation for future generations.
Scientists have found that the sticky substances secreted by beetles not only help slow food decay, but also appear to mask the smell of carrion and emit a smell that can resist competitors. The results were recently published in the journal American Naturalist.
Insects known as "buried beetles" (i.e., burial beetles) use special antennae to detect animal carcasses from a distance, and they compete with other scavengers, including vultures, possums, and maggots. In addition, the competition within the species is also very fierce. The shell is larger, about 1 inch long, with orange markings on the black shell. The intestinal secretions they apply to animal carcasses have an antibacterial effect and can slow down the decomposition of carcasses. Researchers from the University of Connecticut in the United States wanted to know if these secretions could also prevent competitors from finding the bodies.
To find out, they collected the gas emitted by a rat carcass stored in a burial armor in a North American forest and compared it to the gas from corpses that had not been treated by the burial armor. The results showed that the former emitted much less onion-scented compounds than the latter, and this odor had an attraction effect on the burial nails.
In addition, the researchers also found an increase in the release of another gas from carrion that could deter other scavenger insects. They then released rat carcasses back into Forests in Connecticut, confirming that mucus-covered bodies were not easily found by competitors.
Stephen Trumbo of the University of Connecticut said: "This can help beetles hide their own food resources and keep other individuals at a distance from them." ”
In nature, bury beetles aren't the only species that use ingenious, cunning tricks to deceive competitors or prey, such as large blue butterflies that simulate specific sounds to manipulate ants, and carrion flowers that produce a decaying odor to attract scavengers to pollinate them.
Original Compilation: Filament Reviewer: Seamus Editor:Chen Zhihan
Journal Source: American Naturalist
Issue no. 0003-0147
Original link: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-beetle-rivals-scent-food-offspring.html
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