Insects Had It First: Surfactants As A Defence Against Predators

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Veterinary
Article Date: 05 Nov 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Surfactants are compounds that reduce the surface tension of water and thus have important functions in biological systems and in our daily lives.

A surprising new role has been found for surfactants by demonstrating their contribution to the self-defence of plant-feeding insects. Threatened caterpillars regurgitate gut fluid with very low surface tension enabling the fluid to spread over the strongly water-repellent cuticle of predatory insects.

The affected predator needs to engage in intensive cleansing, thus allowing the victim to escape.

This finding also shows that insects 'invented' defensive surfactants long before modern agriculture started applying them as insecticides.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences