Since ya'll enjoyed my previous nerd post, have another~!

Requested by the Fish Fact King, u/Jjnix, today's featured creature is the bombardier beetle (a paraphyletic group consisting of tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, and Metriini)!

Inhabiting plains and forests around the globe, these carnivorous critters use their sharp mandibles to chop up insects. It then spits digestive enzymes, turning the prey into juice which it slurps up. Yum~ What makes this creature famous however is its...unique defense mechanism.

In the beetle's abdomen there are two resovoirs. One of which contains hydrogen peroxide, the other containing hydroquinone. When the animal feels threatened, the compounds mix. Some chemical shit goes down and long story short:

The insect explosively ejects a hot, corrosive liquid at the foe. This can be heard with a loud pop. The main component of this liquid is 1,4-benzoquinone, which is an irritant to the eyes and respiratory system. One species, Stenaptinus insignis, can even rotate and twist its abdomen in nearly any direction!

Charles Darwin once had an unpleasant (albeit comedic) encounter with a closely related beetle. He detailed this event in a letter to Leonard Jenyns, a colleague of his:

"Under a piece of bark I found two Carabi (I forget which) and caught one in each hand, when lo and behold I saw a sacred Panagaeus cruxmajor; I could not bear to give up either of my Carabi, and to lose Panagaeus was out of the question, so that in despair I gently seized one of the Carabi between my teeth, when to my unspeakable disgust and pain the little inconsiderate beast squirted his acid down my throat…"