Knowledge About the Chemical Composition, Possible Therapies, Medications, and Treatment of Venoms from Colored Ants (Hymenoptera) and Beetles (Coleoptera)

Ants, like other insects, communicate through pheromones, a chemical substance that provokes specific reactions between individuals of the same species. Thus, they can leave a chemical signal that serves as an alert or warning to other ants. One of the characteristics that make beetles so easy to recognize is their hardened sides, which serve as armor to protect the more delicate flight wings and the soft abdomen underneath. This manuscript aims to gain knowledge about the chemical composition, possible therapies, medications, and treatment of venoms from colored ants (Hymenoptera) and beetles (Coleoptera). This is a bibliographic review of the literature. The data collection was the result of searching databases of articles that gather information in English and Portuguese with: PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed), STM (Science Translational Medicine, https://stm.sciencemag.org); and SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online, http://www.scielo.org/php/-index.php). In addition to the databases cited, Google Scholar was also used, in the English and Portuguese versions (https://scholar.google.com and https://scholar.google.com.br/).