While many animals in the world are born poisonous (including mammals), some must resort to other techniques to deter predators.
The lemur is one of these – and it’s developed an unusual technique to make it unappealing to mosquitoes, which carry the fatal threat of malaria.
Madagascar has a thriving population of millipedes, which secrete toxic chemical compounds such as cyanide as a defence.
The lemurs cautiously chew on the millipedes, with the toxins causing them to salivate. The primates then rub the saliva (and the millipedes) into their fur – not unlike the way slow lorises lick poisonous secretions onto their offspring’s fur.
These toxins therefore act as an insecticide against the mosquitoes.
However, this produces an unexpected side effect – the chemicals appear to send them into a “trancelike state” and a “condition of complete intoxication”.
The chemical compounds released by the millipedes inhibit their monoamine oxidase system, which has been associated with the feeling of ‘getting high’ in humans.
And once they’re safe from mosquitoes, there’s nothing they can do but sleep it off.
This article by Sophie Ellis was first published by Discover Wildlife on 24 March 2026. Lead Image: John Downer Productions/Getty Images.
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