Bombardier Beetles Squirt Boiling Anal Chemicals to Make Frogs Vomit
You could call the bombardier beetle the dinner date from hell.
When threatened, the beetle shoots a hot jet of boiling chemicals from its rear end, and that’s not all. If eaten by a frog or toad, the bombardier beetle can launch its chemical attack from inside the stomach to force its predator to vomit it back up.
Almost half the time, the beetle survives its brief sojourn through the amphibian digestive tract, Japanese researchers report Tuesday in the journal Biology Letters.
It’s the first time the beetle has been spotted using its rear assault to survive being swallowed. Other animals have escaped after being swallowed by predators, including one live blindsnake that emerged, alive and well, after passing through a toad’s
