Abstract:Despite the great diversity of small insectivorous mammals and the use of scent gland secretions as a defense mechanism by harvestmen, there is no observation about the effectiveness of scent glands against predators such as small mammals. We report a remarkable harvestman defense mechanism against a small-mammal attack. When a harvestman and a mouse opossum confronted each other inside a cage, the harvestman knocked out the mouse opossum two sequential times before it could attack the harvestman. Although it … Show more
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