What is the function of the sharp saliva injected by the Giant Water Bug into its prey?
Answer
It functions as a digestive agent, liquefying the victim's internal tissues.
The saliva injected by the Giant Water Bug via its mouthparts serves a dual purpose critical to its predatory success. Primarily, it acts as an external digestive agent. Upon injection, this substance begins breaking down the internal structures of the captured animal, liquefying the tissues. Following this process, the Giant Water Bug utilizes its specialized piercing and sucking mouthparts to draw out the resulting nutrient-rich fluid from the now-digested internal contents of its prey, a method characteristic of external digestion.
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