Product Description
This Bombardier beetle, 4 1/2" figure includes hand painted features to give it realistic details that are true to natural anatomy. This figure is considered a museum quality replica. Highest Quality Natural Rubber.
More than 40 species of bombardier beetles are found in the United States. Each has blue elytra (wing coverings) and a reddish head and limbs. They are considered remarkable because of their ability to shoot a boiling, corrosive substance at predators. An important feature of these beetles is the presence of two chambers within their abdomen that keep the critical reactants apart until they are ready to be discharged. When the beetle feels threatened, the contents of these two chambers are combined and fired through the abdominal tip. The abdominal tip through which their defensive chemical is sprayed can be rotated 270 degrees so they can more easily fire at predators. These beetles tend to be very small in size, usually growing to be less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) long.
Bombardier beetles are ground beetles (Carabidae) in the tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, or Metriini—more than 500 species altogether—which are most notable for the defense mechanism that gives them their name: when disturbed, they eject a hot noxious chemical spray from the tip of the abdomen with a popping sound. The spray is produced from a reaction between two hypergolic chemical compounds, hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide, which are stored in two reservoirs in the beetle's abdomen. When the aqueous solution of hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide reaches the "vestibule" (Eisner's word), catalysts facilitate the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide and the oxidation of the hydroquinone. Heat from the reaction brings the mixture to near the boiling point of water and produces gas that drives the ejection. The damage caused can be fatal to attacking insects. Some bombardier beetles can direct the spray in a wide range of directions. The beetle's unusual defense mechanism is claimed by some creationists to be an example of what they call irreducible complexity, though this is refuted by evolutionary biologists. Bombardier beetles inhabit all the continents except Antarctica. They typically live in woodlands or grasslands in the temperate zones but can be found in other environments if there are moist places to lay their eggs. Most species of bombardier beetles are carnivorous, including the larva. The beetle typically hunts at night for other insects, but will often congregate with others of its species when not actively looking for food.
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