bombardier beetle

English edit

 
An American bombardier beetle, Brachinus sp.

Noun edit

bombardier beetle (plural bombardier beetles)

  1. A beetle whose defence mechanism enables it to eject a hot aqueous mixture of chemicals at predators. They come from a number of subfamilies: Carabinae (e.g., Brachinus crepitans), Metriinae (e.g., Stenaptinus insignis) and Paussinae (e.g., Goniotropis nicaraguensis).

Translations edit

References edit