Aliens Above? How About Below? SECRET WEAPONS: Defenses of Insects, Spiders, Scorpions, and Other Many-Legged Creatures / (2005) / A book by Thomas Eisner, Maria Eisner, Melody Siegler. Scanning the night sky, wondering what kinds of life exist Out There. But maybe some clues are creeping around your feet. Or are tunneling right under your shoes. I picked up this book to see what “alien” life-forms exist among us. Insects and similar critters occupy their own strange world, one that can be creepy, even disgusting. For example, how about insects that use their own dung as a defensive shield? A tortoise beetle –- known by the Latin appellation of Gratiana pallidula -- in its larval form has a two-pronged fork extending from near its anus back over its body towards its head. This fork accumulates waste matter, forming a pasty barrier. Even when the larva molts, it retains this shield that keeps growing through each larval stage. The shield can be tilted to fend off attacks from ene...
