Small hive beetles are the only species known to trick worker bees into feeding them essential food for the bee colony’s own survival and reproduction.
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IMAGE: The horseradish flea beetle Phyllotreta armoraciae is capable of accumulating large amounts of mustard oil glucosides (glucosinolates) in its body, making itself unpalatable to predators. Glucosinolates are defense substances of. view more
Credit: Anna Schroll
When horseradish flea beetles feed on their host plants, they take up not only nutrients but also mustard oil glucosides, the characteristic defense compounds of horseradish and other brassicaceous plants. Using these mustard oil glucosides, the beetles turn themselves into a mustard oil bomb and so deter predators. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, has now been able to demonstrate how the beetle regulates the accumulation of mustard oil glucosides in its body. The beetles have special transporters in the excretory system that prevent the excretion of mustard oil glucosides. This mechanism enables the horseradish flea beetle to accumulate h