There are almost, as many different ways in which insects protect themselves from enemies as there are different insects. Some insects, such as wasps and ants, have powerful stings or are able to shower their attackers with poisonous fluid. The hoverfly does not sting, but its colouring is so like that of a wasp or bee that enemies are very wary of it! Other insects, such as stick insects and praying mantises use camouflage. They look like the leaves and twigs among which they feed.
In the insect community there exist many different methods of hunting and killing. Some of these methods are short and quick, and others seem to be slow and painful. Some insects do not even have to fight by virtue of their spectacular camouflaged bodies. However, other insects are nearly always vulnerable to predators. Many insects sport particular colors that scare predators away and some insects use venom in order to subdue their prey before feasting on it. There are many more methods of attack and defense to be observed in the insect world, and even the few methods named above do not begin to touch upon the great variety of ways that insects attack others and defend themselves.
Some insects use irritating sprays to subdue their enemies. For example, ladybugs, bombardier beetles, and blister beetles are just a few insects that are capable of deterring predators with unpleasant fluids. The bombardier beetle keeps a caustic substance within its abdomen at all times. When this beetle’s life is threatened by a predator, it will spray the invader with its caustic fluid. While the injured predator is occupied with the caustic substance, the bombardier beetle will make its getaway.
Another interesting, and largely unheard of defense tactic employed by some arthropods involves the sacrifice of a limb. Many long-legged insects, such as katydids, walkingsticks and craneflies have easily detachable legs, which they are more than happy to give up to a predator if it means getting away alive. These legs have “fracture points” located at certain joints on the legs. When a leg is pulled by a predator, the leg will become detached, leaving the insect alive and the predator with a modest meal.
This is different than mimicry or camouflage, though it uses the same principle. Some insects “hide in plain sight” by resembling objects in their environment. A thorn could really be a treehopper; a twig might be a walkingstick, an assassin bug, or a caterpillar; and sometimes a dead leaf turns out to be a katydid, a moth, or even a butterfly. Some caterpillars resemble bird droppings, and others have false eyespots on their wings or body to create an imitation of a predator’s head. Often, these guys are the coolest-looking… the details in their appearance astonishing in their accuracy and creativity.
If there is one thing most of us have in common, it’s distaste for foul smells. And the really bad ones can be enough to make you recoil. Ever been at the epicenter of a skunk attack? It’s like someone is burning tires directly in your NOSE. Stink bugs have special glands that produce a foul-smelling reek. The caterpillar form of some swallowtail butterflies have glands just behind their heads that, when disturbed, will rear up and release a terrible stench. Darkling beetles will raise their big, black butt in warning when they are threatened, and if you don’t pay attention to the warning – will expel acrid, foul-smelling fluid.
When stink and burning isn’t enough, some bugs will hit their attackers with sticky compounds that harden like glue and incapacitate. Some kinds of cockroaches guard their backsides with a slimy anal secretion (those are three words that are just terrible together) that cripples any ants that launch an attack. And there are types of soldier termites that have nozzle-like heads that can spays sticky, immobilizing toxic fluids at attackers as varied as ants, spiders, centipedes, and other predatory arthropods.