Abstract
Three quinones (2,3-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone; 2,5-dimethyl 1,4-benzoquinone; and 2,3,5-trimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone) and two phenols (2,3-dimethylphenol and 2-methyl-5-ethylphenol) were isolated from the defensive secretions of four species of opilionids (suborder Laniatores) from the Canal Zone. Phenols had not previously been reported from opilionids, and 2-methyl-5-ethylphenol was not known as a natural product. The secretions, which are mixed with regurgitated enteric fluid upon discharge, are administered by the animals by leg dabbing.
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Paper no. 53 of the seriesDefense Mechanisms of Arthropods.
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Eisner, T., Jones, T.H., Hicks, K. et al. Quinones and phenols in the defensive secretions of neotropical opilionids. J Chem Ecol 3, 321–329 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988447
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988447