Die another day: watch how a beetle escapes from a toad’s stomach

The bombardier beetle, known for its chemical spray attack, can do so even after being swallowed by a predator. It can spray hot chemicals inside and force the predator to vomit it out. The finding was reported recently in Biology Letters .

Bombardier beetles are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica. They have a special combustion chamber in their stomach which mixes up toxic chemicals, and when needed they can spray these from their rear end at the predator and run away.

 

Researchers tested the beetles’ escape mechanisms using two different toad species. Almost 43% of the toads vomited the beetle and the tiny insect walked away unhurt. They were able to survive in the toad's stomach for as long as two hours. The researchers suggest that the beetle may have evolved to survive in the harsh stomach acid.

The study was carried out by Dr. Shinji Sugiura and Dr. Takuya Sato from Kobe University, Japan.