Natures wonders: Bombardier beetle spray control (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, May 04, 2015, 22:13 (3489 days ago) @ David Turell
edited by dhw, Tuesday, May 05, 2015, 21:28

The beetles spray enemies with a toxic liquid in a controlled fashion:-"The coordinated movements of two chambers within the gland of a species of bombardier beetles (Brachinus elongatulus) allow the insects to effortlessly spray rapid pulses of noxious irritants, according to a study published today (May 1) in Science. The hundreds of species of bombardier beetle are named for their defense mechanism, which involves shooting a boiling stream of toxic p-benzoquinones at up to 10 meters (33 feet) per second from a gland in their rear. Inside the beetles' bodies, the gland consists of two chambers separated by a valve. One is a flexible reservoir containing the raw materials to make the explosive compounds, while the reaction chamber, reinforced with chitin and waxes, contains the enzymes that turn the chemicals into a toxic weapon. When a stressed beetle turns on its defenses, it squeezes the muscles of the reservoir to open the valve and mix the components together. In the Brachinini group of bombardier beetles, to which the Arizona-dwelling B. elongatulus belongs, the spray then erupts in a series of 300 to 700 pulses per second, but it was not known how these pulses were controlled. - See more at: http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/42874/title/Beetle-Bomb/#sthash....