BOMBS AWAY

The Bombardier beetle (in the genus Brachinus) gets its name from artillery soldiers.  It is an apt reference, as this beetle releases a chemical “bomb” from its butt (more scientifically called the “anus”) with an audible popping noice.  This chemical bomb is a boiling hot (100°C) spray that irritates is predators.  So, how does this beetle keep a boiling hot chemical bomb in its body without boiling itself?  It doesn’t.  These little, inadvertent chemists store hydroquinone in one anal chamber and hydrogen peroxide in the other chamber.  Add these two chemicals together along with an enzyme to kick it off and you have a beetle butt bomb (I had to go for the nice alliteration). 

While I got my information from textbooks on entomology, I did enjoy the graphics at this site:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/03/22/the-bombardier-beetle-and-its-crazy-chemical-cannon/