What Eats Bombardier Beetles ... ?

What eats Bombardier Beetles? That was the question I heard over my shoulder while taking a brief respite in my yard the either day. I wasn't sure if I was hearing correctly so I asked for the question to be repeated. What eats Bombardier Beetles? The question was the same.

At first I thought maybe it was a riddle. I couldn't help but wonder how a beetle would be related to an airline manufacturing company. I wasn't even sure if I had that right. As it turns out the question of what eats Bombardier Beetles is not so unusual after all.

In fact, the Bombardier Beetle is a more common and more fascinating creature than most people would first imagine. I have been a long time fan of the Beatle family. That is of course, the musical Beatles. I was curious to find out how different this particular breed could be.

As you could imagine, the Bombardier Beetle is not much for song writing or even playing the drums. In fact, it doesn't have much rhythm at all. Nope, instead it is more along the lines of the insect world's compatriot concert goers. That is, like most of us, it is one of the crowd. However, it is not without it's unique talents.

What makes this particular species of beetle so interesting is how nature prepared it to defend itself against predators. Now, I have decided not to get too technical in describing what it does. Trust me. Many people who have discovered the Bombardier Beetle before me have taken the painstaking moments to carefully examine this creature to determine exactly how and why it is able to do what it does. Allow to simply say, I will not take that kind of time because I have far too many things more important going on in my life to confirm their findings. I will simply take their word for it. I can begin to imagine the types of experiments they did to figure out the inner workings of this tiny creature nor do I want to.

So, what makes this little wonder so unique? As I mentioned earlier it is a defense mechanism. Put simply, it sprays a boiling hot mixture from its behind. That's right. This bug has toxic gas! Again, I am not going into any great detail as to how it happens. Let's just say that it does. Isn't that enough of an explanation for anybody?

To be honest I'm not sure how effective a deterrent it is to be the prince of posterior projectiles but, that is the gift that has been bestowed on this little guy. I would imagine it leaves quite a bitter taste in the mouth of any would be predator but by that moment, I can't imagine what kind of shape the beetle would be in.

The good news is that the Bombardier Beetle itself eats a number of other agricultural pests, much like the lady bug, so they may be helpful in your garden. The bad news is, if they over run your yard you could have a problem.

As for what eats Bombardier Beetles, I would imagine it would be some unsuspecting rodents and birds. Their colors I would imagine also act as a sort of turn off. Once I found out what this particular species was capable of doing, I just suggested to my neighbor to keep the little guy and charge people admission to come and see the special things he can do.