From spikes to camouflage to detachable tails
animals protect themselves in a wide range of ways
One type of beetle takes it to the next level:
it packs a boiling explosive punch
There are around 400,000
species of beetle,
and one group,
the bombardier beetles,
have devised one of the most interesting
defence strategies
in the animal kingdom.
They are small beetles
that live in the leaf litter
and under stones,
and they may be attacked by animals
such as toads and shrews.
And when they feel under threat
they combine two chemicals
together in a chamber
in the back-end of their abdomen,
which causes an explosion
and a cloud of noxious gas,
that might be up to
100 degrees Celsius,
explodes out of the back-end
of the beetle,
into the face of the toad or shrew
or whatever small animal is threatening it.
