I like the small partner of the beetle, I don't know if I have been recruited. Erono Jun's little friend was sprayed with "chemicals" on his face because he was holding the buttocks of the pulling armor, leaving a full face of spots, and did not want to see people ↓↓.
From time to time on the Internet, you can see netizens asking about this kind of beetle that will spray "smoke" on its ass ↓↓
Where are they sacred? Why can I spray "smoke"? How to spray?
They are our protagonists today, the Carabidae insects! But not all armors spray chemicals, only some of them. Foreign countries also call them "cannon worms".
Taking the Shanghai double-spotted coarse-horned rifle (_Eustra shanghaiensis_) discovered by the Loveno team as an example, although the little guy is only 3mm long, he can spray chemicals at a high temperature of nearly 60 ° C in an instant, and he also looks harmless to humans and animals ↓
▲ A new species discovered by the Love Wild Monogatari team, Shanghai double-spotted coarse-horned foot armor (_Eustra shanghaiensis_)
<h1>So how do they spray venom? </h1>
This process will be illustrated below in terms of Gun Rifle Armor Brachinus and Fart Rifle Armor Pheropsophus.
The gun shell is 5 to 13 mm long, generally medium in size, and the elytra are dark blue, black or blue-green, with a metallic luster. The apex edges of the elytra have short golden-yellow hairs. It is not difficult to guess from the name that the gun rifle armor is known as the "anti-aircraft cannon among insects".
The gunner has a small sac at the end of the abdomen that spews out toxic liquids that contain quinones.
The quinone in the body of the rifle reacts violently with hydrogen peroxide (also produced by the cannon armor itself and stored in the body), and the liquid emits a "bang" when it is emitted. In this way, the artillery armor can successfully intimidate the enemy and defend against predators.
↑ Gun cloth armor firing process
The scientists X-rayed the explosion, giving an unobstructed view of the steam movement inside the beetle's abdomen. The jet is controlled by a pipeline between two lumens in the beetle's abdomen, controlled by two structures: an elastic film and a valve.
There is a pipeline between the pioneer cavity and the explosion chamber, the opening and closing of the pipeline appears to be passive, the explosion occurs when the pressure rises to prop the film open, the valve is closed; next, the liquid is sprayed, the pressure is released, the film returns to its original state, and the path is opened again, in preparation for the next spray.
↑ X-ray imaging of the process of firing cannons under the armor of the cannon
Here is a special reminder to the reader that because the temperature of the liquid is very high and poisonous at the moment of shooting, if you see gun armor in the wild, do not easily touch it with your bare hands, so as not to burn the skin or accidentally splash it with venom.
Once you accidentally splash venom, don't panic too much. Washing the sprayed area with soapy water in time can alleviate the tingling sensation, and after a few days the scab is gone.
The gun armor is just one of many insects of the family Carabidae. Insects in the family Buchaceae are very diverse, the third largest family in the order Coleoptera, and have a wide range of distribution.
There are more than 29,000 species of insects in the family Buchae that are known worldwide, and as many as 1,750 species have been recorded in China alone. It is closely related to the environment and the differentiation between various groups is relatively obvious, so it is often used as an indicator organism for the study of animal geography.
Next, Xiaobian will introduce several typical insects of the family Buchaceae for the reader.
<h1>Mao's step armor _Harpalus griseus_</h1>
The head of the hairy thorax and the dorsal plate of the forebrea are shiny, and the base of the forebrea and the front of the elytra are covered with pale yellow hairs. The back is generally black , the ventral surface is brownish yellow , and the elytra are brownish or tan.
There are grooves on the elytra, flat between the rows, and densely carved. It feeds mainly on the larvae of other insects, and occasionally eats millet and corn seed germ, which affects agricultural production.
<h1>Labu _Carabus lafossei_</h1>
The body is about 3 to 4 cm long, 1 to 1 .6cm wide, and has a variety of color types. The body color is generally metallic green , and the dorsal plate of the forebrea and the outer edge of the elytra are golden red.
Each elytra is composed of six longitudinal lines of black, blue-black, or blue-green tumors, 3 thicker and 3 thinner, arranged in an intersolete manner, and the ends of the elytra are upturned and divided.
Labometris feed on lepidoptera, diptera insects, and small molluscs such as snails and slugs, which are of great significance to the natural balance. At the same time, it is also a second-class protected animal in China, which is highly valued and cannot be collected or killed in a big way.
<h1>Shuobu jia _Carabus davidis_</h1>
Shuo Bu Jia, alias David Bu Jia. The body length is 33 to 40 mm and the width is 11 to 14 mm. The head , antennae , and feet are black ; the dorsal and side plates of the thorax and the small shield are blue-purple ; the elytra are green to blue , and the posterior half is reddish copper metallic. The back of the giant armor has a carved back stripe, which looks like a craft.
Like the Labocar, the Giant's Foot Armor is also a national second-level protected animal and is very precious. Treat these bugs, in the wild, we are mainly ornamental, can not be caught arbitrarily.
bibliography
1. YUAN Qin. Rare Insects in China: A Biological Bulletin. 41(11)，2006
2. Large-step A culture technology. Agricultural Knowledge (Scientific Aquaculture), 2008, (1): 38-39
3. Brachinus Weber, 1801: 22" . Carabidae of the World. 2011. Retrieved 24 Jun 2011
4. Gao Guangcai, Fu Biqian. Research Progress on Step Ahead as An Indicator Organism[J]. Insect Knowledge, 2009, (02): 216-222
5. "Harpalus Latreille, 1802: 92" . Carabidae of the World. 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
Some of the above pictures come from the Internet