Predators of Poisonous Prey
Predators of Poisonous Prey
Warning colors, bad tastes, foul smells, and poison—these defenses protect their owners from many predators, but not all. Some predators are ableto eat them without suffering any harm.
Sometimes, this ability comes from a natural resistance to the poison. One kind of tropical snake, for example, can eat poison dart frogs and not be harmed. It is affected only by large amounts of toxin from the most poisonous species of frogs.
Likewise, the European hedgehog eats toads and is not affected by the poison in their skin glands. It is even known to chew on the poisonous skin and then spread the poisonous fl uid onto its own spiny body. The mongoose, a mammal that lives in Africa and Asia, eats poisonous snakes and toads, too.
Some birds are resistant to defensive chemicals, too. The black-headed grosbeak eats monarch butterflies. Another bird, the northern shrike, stabs monarchs onto thorns and branches and lets them rot for a few days. The poison in the prey breaks down, and then the bird eats it.
Some predators can eat prey by avoiding their unpleasant fluids. A great horned owl, for example, can snatch up a skunk so quickly that it doesn’t have time to spray—and even if it does, the stink doesn’t bother the owl, which has littleto no sense of smell. A species of true bug that eats meat instead of plants has an extra-long beak, which it uses to pierce insect larvae. Thanks to the length of this beak, the bug’s head and body never come close to the nasty fluid that oozes from its prey. A big toad can eat a millipede that oozes poisonous droplets, if it grabs the millipede quickly and swallows it instantly.
The grasshopper mouse of Southwestern deserts avoids the smelly spray of the darkling beetle with a neat trick: It shoves the beetle’s hind end into the sand. Then the mouse eats the beetle headfirst. Spiders use a similar tactic when they catch bombardier beetles in their webs. A spider that has snared one of these explosive beetles moves slowly and carefully as it ties up the beetle with silk. Once the beetleis tightly wrapped, the spider will eat it.
Predators also can avoid defense chemicals by removing them from their prey. Some birds, such as blue jays, remove the head and digestive tract of lubber grasshoppers before eating them. Without these parts, the insect is safe to eat.
Animals called coatis, which live in parts of the southwestern United States and in Central and South America, use their front paws to roll poisonous millipedes across the ground. The millipedes ooze defensive chemicals, but they are wiped away by the rolling. Then the coatis crunch up the millipedes. Another mammal, the little angwantibo of western Africa, rubs off the irritating hairs of the caterpillars that make up its diet.
Warning colors, bad tastes, foul smells, and poison—these defenses protect their owners from many predators, but not all. Some predators are ableto eat them without suffering any harm.
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| A coati will use its front paws to roll up poisonous millipedes, an action that gets rid of the defensive chemicals millipedes may release. |
Sometimes, this ability comes from a natural resistance to the poison. One kind of tropical snake, for example, can eat poison dart frogs and not be harmed. It is affected only by large amounts of toxin from the most poisonous species of frogs.
Likewise, the European hedgehog eats toads and is not affected by the poison in their skin glands. It is even known to chew on the poisonous skin and then spread the poisonous fl uid onto its own spiny body. The mongoose, a mammal that lives in Africa and Asia, eats poisonous snakes and toads, too.
Some birds are resistant to defensive chemicals, too. The black-headed grosbeak eats monarch butterflies. Another bird, the northern shrike, stabs monarchs onto thorns and branches and lets them rot for a few days. The poison in the prey breaks down, and then the bird eats it.
Some predators can eat prey by avoiding their unpleasant fluids. A great horned owl, for example, can snatch up a skunk so quickly that it doesn’t have time to spray—and even if it does, the stink doesn’t bother the owl, which has littleto no sense of smell. A species of true bug that eats meat instead of plants has an extra-long beak, which it uses to pierce insect larvae. Thanks to the length of this beak, the bug’s head and body never come close to the nasty fluid that oozes from its prey. A big toad can eat a millipede that oozes poisonous droplets, if it grabs the millipede quickly and swallows it instantly.
The grasshopper mouse of Southwestern deserts avoids the smelly spray of the darkling beetle with a neat trick: It shoves the beetle’s hind end into the sand. Then the mouse eats the beetle headfirst. Spiders use a similar tactic when they catch bombardier beetles in their webs. A spider that has snared one of these explosive beetles moves slowly and carefully as it ties up the beetle with silk. Once the beetleis tightly wrapped, the spider will eat it.
Predators also can avoid defense chemicals by removing them from their prey. Some birds, such as blue jays, remove the head and digestive tract of lubber grasshoppers before eating them. Without these parts, the insect is safe to eat.
Animals called coatis, which live in parts of the southwestern United States and in Central and South America, use their front paws to roll poisonous millipedes across the ground. The millipedes ooze defensive chemicals, but they are wiped away by the rolling. Then the coatis crunch up the millipedes. Another mammal, the little angwantibo of western Africa, rubs off the irritating hairs of the caterpillars that make up its diet.
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