Bombardier beetle

Bombardier beetles are ground beetles (Carabidae) in the tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, or Metriini - more than 500 species altogether - that are most notable for the defense mechanism that gives them their name: They can fire a mixture of chemicals from special glands in their posterior.

Bombardier beetles have come to public attention in recent years largely because of arguments put forward by creationists, particularly in the children's book Bomby the Bombardier Beetle. The book argues that the beetles' internal design, in which certain chemicals must be mixed in certain ways at certain times to produce tiny explosions, is an example of irreducible complexity, and therefore the product of intelligent design.

Further reading

• Bomby the Bombardier Beetle, by Hazel Rue, ISBN 0932766137

External links

• Bombardier Beetles and the Argument from Design
• University of Michigan article
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences article
• http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/bombardier.html