Haematological changes in the garden lizard, Calotes nemoricola due to the defensive secretion of the grasshopper, Poecilocerus pictus.

Defensive secretion of the Grasshopper, Poecilocerus pictus produced significant changes in the blood components of the predator lizard, C. nemoricola. The red blood cell (RBC) count, haemoglobin (Hb) concentration, packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and white blood cell (WBC) count decreased greatly, whereas mean corpuscular volume (MCV) showed significant increase following the administration of lethal dose of defensive secretion. These changes however were found to be reversible toward control levels in the lizards injected with sublethal dose. Disrupted erythropoeitic activity in lizards by the cardenolides in the defensive secretion was suggested.