Most bites are about the same as a wasp or bee sting in terms of pain and reaction, with one African species also bringing on hallucinations in some victims. All species of tarantula are venomous, but none have yet been known to bite and kill a human. The tarantula is a large hairy spider (arachnid) which is mildly venomous. Recent research has suggested that platypus venom may have a use in pain relief and antibiotic production. As this venom only seems to be produced around their reproductive season, it may be a mechanism used to fight other males to secure their place with a female as well as to fight off predators. This venom is made up of proteins that are only found in the platypus, and together are powerful enough that they can kill animals like dogs and cause great pain to humans. The female's spurs will drop off by the time they are one year old. All platypuses are born with small, hollow spurs on their hind legs, but they only connected to venom glands and produce venom in the males. It is also the only egg-laying mammal that exists. The Ornithorhynchus anatinus ( platypus) is a semi–aquatic mammal and one of five surviving species of monotreme. Recent research has shown the possibility for the toxins extracted from these frogs to have some medicinal benefits: among the proposed uses are painkillers more powerful than morphine and appetite suppressants. For the frog, as for the people who use the toxins in their weapons, the poison of these species of frog is for defence. Although some species of poison dart frogs are more toxic than others, they all have a degree of toxicity in their skin, and their poison is often used by those indigenous to the areas the frogs are found in to tip darts and spears, making them poisonous. Poison dart frogs are native to the South American continent, and are very brightly coloured and patterned, indicating their toxicity to other animals who might wish to prey on them. The main component of the toxins secreted, bufotenin, will cause hallucinations – hence the activity of toad licking, although this can sometimes result in serious illness – and this chemical is actually illegal. Cane toad venom will mainly affect the heart. The skin of the toad is also toxic, and can prove fatal to some mammals, even humans, if ingested. This species produces toxins ( bufotoxins) in parotoid glands on its neck, which are secreted as a milky looking liquid when the toad feels threatened, by a predator for example. The cane toad ( Bufo marinus) is a large toad that lives on land and is native to the Americas and was introduced to Australia to deal with pests (although now it has become a pest itself). Because of the protection that being poisonous provides, other non–poisonous butterflies often choose to mimic the patterns on those that are (bright colours and eyes), in order to gain the same protection. They are never toxic enough to cause the death of an animal, but the toxin tastes terrible and anything, for example a bird, that attempts to eat one once will be deterred from doing so again. Some butterflies, such as the Monarch butterfly, are also slightly poisonous due to the fact that they ate poisonous plants like milkweeds during their development, as caterpillars. How quickly symptoms appear depend on the potency of the venom injected and how close to the bloodstream the entry site was. The most common effects of envenomation include local tissue inflammation as well as neuromuscular effects. Their venom is, like many others, a combination of different compounds that when brought together are toxic to the targeted organism. Scorpions also use their venom as a defence when they feel threatened and during mating. Most of these, and all of the deadly ones, are of the Buthidae family – which are found in the Mediterranean area and are recognisable as they have triangular sternums. Although all scorpions are venomous, and use their venom to catch their prey by paralysing them, there are only a few (around 25) species that have venom strong enough to actually harm or kill a human. The scorpion is a predatory arachnid, and is easily recognised by its front claws and the distinctive tail, which has the stinger (also called a telson) attached.
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