Autohaemorrhaging
Encyclopedia
Autohaemorrhaging or reflex bleeding is the action of animals deliberately ejecting haemolymph or blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

 from themselves. If the animal has toxic compounds in its blood then it may be an effective chemical defence mechanism.

Animals that autohaemorrhage include:
  • Beetle
    Beetle
    Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

    s
    • Blister beetle
      Blister beetle
      Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. There are approximately 7,500 known species worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be...

      s
    • Meloidae whose haemolymph contains cantharidin
      Cantharidin
      Cantharidin, a type of terpenoid, is a poisonous chemical compound secreted by many species of blister beetle, and most notably by the Spanish fly, Lytta vesicatoria. The false blister beetles and cardinal beetles also have cantharidin.-History:...

       that they sequester from plants that they feed on.
    • Timarcha
      Timarcha
      Timarcha is a beetle genus of the Chrysomelidae family, with more than 100 described species in three subgenera. The most widely known species is T. tenebricosa, the bloody-nosed beetle.All species are black, wingless organisms...

      species
    • Chrysomelidae whose haemolymph contains anthraquinone
      Anthraquinone
      Anthraquinone, also called anthracenedione or dioxoanthracene is an aromatic organic compound with formula . Several isomers are possible, each of which can be viewed as a quinone derivative...

      s.
    • Ladybugs

  • Hymenoptera
    Hymenoptera
    Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...

    • Sawfly
      Sawfly
      Sawfly is the common name for insects belonging to suborder Symphyta of the order Hymenoptera. Sawflies are distinguishable from most other Hymenoptera by the broad connection between the abdomen and the thorax, and by their caterpillar-like larvae...

       larvae

  • Orthoptera
    Orthoptera
    Orthoptera is an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, crickets and locusts.Many insects in this order produce sound by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps...

    • Bushhoppers such as Dictyophorus spumans
      Dictyophorus spumans
      Dictyophorus spumans, the koppie foam grasshopper or ' is a species of grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae indigenous to South Africa. It grows up to a length of , and is toxic due to its diet of milkweed....

      , Phymateus viridipes
      Phymateus viridipes
      Phymateus viridipes Stal, aka Green Milkweed Locust or African Bush Grasshopper, belonging to the family Pyrgomorphidae , is an African locust about long at maturity and capable of long migratory flights. Its body and forewings are green in colour while the hindwings are bright red and blue,...

      and Phymateus leprosus whose haemolymph contains cardiac glycosides sequestered from milkweed on which they feed.
    • Katydids including Eugaster species
    • Armoured ground crickets
    • Enyaliopsis nyala

  • Plecoptera
    Plecoptera
    Plecoptera are an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. There are some 3,500 described species worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica...

    • Stonefly larvae

  • Phrynosomatidae
    Phrynosomatidae
    Phrynosomatidae is a diverse family of lizards, found from Panama to the extreme south of Canada. Many members of the group are adapted to life in hot, sandy deserts, although the spiny lizards prefer rocky deserts or even relatively moist forest edges, and the short-horned lizard lives in prairie...

     lizards
    • Horned lizard
      Horned lizard
      Horned lizards are a genus of lizards which are the type genus of the family Phrynosomatidae. The horned lizard is popularly called a "horned toad", "horny toad", or "horned frog", but it is neither a toad nor a frog. The popular names come from the lizard's rounded body and blunt snout, which...


  • Snakes
    • Tropidophis
      Tropidophis
      Tropidophis, common name wood snake or West Indian wood snake, is a genus of dwarf boas found in the West Indies and South America. Currently, 17 species are recognized.-Description:Adults grow to between 30 an 60 cm in length...

      , or wood snake, a genus of dwarf boa
      Dwarf boa
      The Tropidophiinae, common name dwarf boas, are a subfamily of snakes found from Mexico and the West Indies south to southeastern Brazil. These are small to medium-sized fossorial snakes, some with beautiful and striking color patterns...

      , which expel blood from the mouth, nostrils and eyes when disturbed.
    • Natrix natrix, or European grass snake, a Colubrid
      Colubrid
      A colubrid is a member of the snake family Colubridae. This broad classification of snakes includes about two-thirds of all snake species on earth. The earliest species of the snake family date back to the Oligocene epoch. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is the largest snake family...

      , which secretes blood from the mouth and nose while playing dead.
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