Chemical Secretion Use Varies Among Species but Lacks a Straightforward Relationship With Other Defenses in Neotropical Opiliones
Chemical Secretion Use Varies Among Species but Lacks a Straightforward Relationship With Other Defenses in Neotropical Opiliones
Chemical Secretion Use Varies Among Species but Lacks a Straightforward Relationship With Other Defenses in Neotropical Opiliones ABSTRACT Chemical secretion deployment is a widespread defensive strategy in arthropods, typically aimed at surviving encounters with predators. However, the ecological forces shaping variation in its use across species remain unclear. We quantified chemical secretion behavior in 11 sympatric species of Prionostemma within the understudied arachnid order Opiliones. We surveyed species in two distinct forests in Costa Rica and tested their secretion propensity when stimulated, and whether these differences correlate with interspecific variation in morphology, leg-loss levels, or social behavior. We found that species varied in their tendency to release chemical secretions, forming a continuous gradient from taxa that rarely secreted to those that secreted in nearly all encounters. However, this variation was not explained by body size or leg loss. Spec...
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