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Arthropods

Venomous arthropods include spiders, which use fangs on their chelicerae to inject venom, and centipedes, which use forcipules — modified legs — to deliver venom, while scorpions and stinging insects inject venom with a sting. In bees and wasps, the stinger is a modified ovipositor (egg-laying device). In Polistes fuscatus, the female continuously releases a venom that contains a sex pheromone that induces copulatory behavior in males. In wasps such as Polistes exclamans, venom is used as an alarm pheromone, coordinating a response from the nest and attracting nearby wasps to attack the predator. In some species, such as Parischnogaster striatula, venom is applied all over the body as an antimicrobial protection.

Many caterpillars have defensive venom glands associated with specialized bristles on the body called urticating hairs. These are usually merely irritating, but those of the Lonomia moth can be fatal to humans.

Bees synthesize and employ an acidic venom (apitoxin) to defend their hives and food stores, whereas wasps use a chemically different venom to paralyse prey, so their prey remains alive to provision the food chambers of their young. The use of venom is much more widespread than just these examples; many other insects, such as true bugs and many ants, also produce venom. The ant species Polyrhachis dives uses venom topically for the sterilisation of pathogens.