Sting - the common name for a pointed organ or body part of various animals and plants used to inject a poisonous or burning substance under the victim’s skin ( stinging ) or to apply an electric shock. Puncture of the victim’s tissue occurs due to the stinger’s own movements, unlike other organs, such as teeth using the power of the jaws or spikes using the victim’s movements.
Content
Zoology
The sting, as a rule, is a pointed organ connected to the glands secreting a poisonous or burning liquid and adapted for wounding by piercing the victim's integument. Used as a weapon of defense and attack.
Among arthropods, the most common among insects is the order Hymenoptera : bees , wasps , ants , hornets , and bumblebees . It is located in the back of the abdomen and is a modified ovipositor .
A unique feature of honey bees is that the sting of working individuals has a sawtooth shape. In this regard, when a mammal is stung, it gets stuck in the skin and breaks out of the body of the insect, leading to its death. The sting is connected with its own ganglion , as a result of which it continues to secrete poison for several minutes. The question of how this trait could develop as a result of evolution, despite its lack for an individual, is resolved if we consider that working bees are infertile and their survival does not play a role in natural selection , whereas the survival of a uterus capable of breeding depends on from the survival of an entire colony, and an attack by a large animal on a colony can lead to its death, therefore the gene that makes bee stings more painful for enemies, but leads to the death of the bee itself, has been evolutionarily beneficial.
Other hymenoptera have a smooth sting, and therefore they are able to sting many times and mammals.
The scorpion sting is a needle located on the last segment of the tail ( posterior abdomen ). On the top of the needle are two openings of poisonous glands. Scorpion stinging for small animals is deadly; in humans, they cause inflammation and cause quite severe pain; in tropical countries, stings are quite dangerous and sometimes fatal.
The stingray stingray sting is a modified ray of the dorsal fin .
In addition, in the everyday sense, the tongue of snakes or the proboscis of mosquitoes can be mistakenly called a sting [1] . The term "sting" is used to mean bites of snakes and mosquitoes , as well as skin lesions by stinging cells of the intestinal cavity ( jellyfish , coral , etc.).
Some fictional creatures , such as Manticore , were also portrayed with a sting.
Botany
In sting botany, pointed hollow hairs are placed on the glands with a burning secret. , such as on nettles (see. Burning hairs (plants) ). The ends of these hairs break off when a skin is pierced, and a secret is injected into the resulting wound.
See also
- Sting Strength Scale
Notes
- ↑ Sting , Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1969-1978.
Links
- The sting of insects // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 tons (82 tons and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.