If you are a tiny insect, your main concern is protecting yourself against nature’s elements and predators. Insects are built and have adopted amazing insect defence mechanisms to survive. Take a look below at some of the amazing insect defence mechanisms insects use to save their bacon.
Playing dead
Playing dead might be a trick you taught your dog to do for your amusement, but the same tactic has saved countless insect lives! This insect defence mechanism, also known as tonic immobility. Predators quickly lose interest in dead prey, so insects that employ the strategy can often escape unharmed.
Acoustics
Earless moths have sound-absorbent wings that act as acoustic camouflage from preying bats. The moth wings have an ultrathin layer of scales that absorb sound and could be adapted for noise-canceling technology. This helps so that the moth wings were much quieter, so as to move around more stealthily as to not be detected by its enemies.
Smelly front door
Researchers discovered honeybees in Vietnam collect and apply animal dung around hive entrances to deter deadly nest raids by giant hornets.
Indestructible exterior
The diabolical ironclad beetle is like a tiny tank on six legs. A study has now revealed the secrets of this beetle’s armour. Tightly interlocked and impact-absorbing structures link together pieces of the beetle’s exoskeleton. Those structures help the beetle survive enormous crushing forces.
Poison
The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly eats only milkweed, a poisonous plant that should kill it. The caterpillars thrive on the plant, even storing its toxins in their bodies as a defence against hungry birds.
Eating eggs
When ant nests are invaded by parasitic ants that hope to wipe out the original residents, larvae may try to protect their family by eating the invaders’ eggs.
Social distancing
It’s not only humans that use means of social distancing to prevent diseases spreading. Ants, when infected with harmful pathogens, appear to alter their behavior and avoid other colony members to lower the risk of being infected.
Unfortunately some insects can cause a lot of harm to your home, yourself and can spread germs and disease.
If you have an insect infestation that needs to be taken care of, contact Service Master.
