STINGING ANIMALS AND PLANTS

Though commonly used as a means of defense both in animals and plants the power of inflicting a wound and introducing a poisonous fluid is employed by many animals as a means of securing their prey. One of the lowliest stinging animals is the hydra which has a number of cells in the tentacles. A lobe of the spittle gland in gnats is modified for the secretion of poison. Bees, wasps, ichneumon and saw flies inflict their stings by means of modified ovipositors. The poison glands of spiders are in appendages near the mouth. A number of fishes, notably the sting rays and the weevers, have also stinging powers. Stinging plants (e.g. nettle) are usually furnished with sharp stiff hairs which secrete an acrid fluid. Some are capable of causing serious results. RAYS, are the fishes which constitute the family Trygonide in the sub-order Raji. There are about fifty species of these elasmobranchs, occurring in most tropical and subtropical seas, and they are characterized by their long, slender, whip-like tails.