Cantharidin-mediated communication networks in insect communities

Abstract

This is a brief review of the cantharidin world in nature, which is an animal community with interactions via the insect defense chemical, cantharidin. The blister beetles and false blister beetles produce cantharidin for their defense against predators. Despite of strong toxicity, several taxa of arthropods are attracted to cantharidin and/or cantharidin-producing beetles. Insects attracted to cantharidin probably use acquired cantharidin or its analogues in three ways: (1) nuptial gift from males to females for their egg defense, (2) food/host search, and (3) aggregation. These functional groups of the cantharidin world interacted intra- and inter-specifically, and the structure of the cantharidin world changed temporally and spatially.