Autothysis (from the Greek roots autos- αὐτός "self" and thysia θυσία "sacrifice") or suicidal altruism is the process where an animal destroys itself via an internal rupturing or explosion of an organ which ruptures the skin. The term was proposed by Ulrich Maschwitz and Eleonore Maschwitz in 1974 to describe the defensive mechanism of Colobopsis saundersi, a species of ant.
Autothysis (from the Greek roots autos- αὐτός "self" and thysia θυσία "sacrifice") or suicidal altruism is the process where an animal destroys itself via an internal rupturing or explosion of an organ which ruptures the skin. The term was proposed by Ulrich Maschwitz and Eleonore Maschwitz in 1974 to describe the defensive mechanism of Colobopsis saundersi, a species of ant.
Source: Wikipedia "Autothysis" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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