This is Scientific Americans 60 Second Science.

I'm Karen Hopkins.

If you're a fan of nature shows, you've probably heard of the Bombardier beetle.

When disturbed, this weaponized insect can spray a boiling hot jet of

noxious chemicals from its hind end, a response that even the hungriest predators find highly off putting.

But what if that predator is so stealthy and quick

that the beetle doesn't have time to deploy its signature defense

before it gets et?

Turns out, the explosion is also effective when detonated from the inside. We know this because a new

study shows that the bombardier beetles can use their chemical weapons to escape from the belly of the toe that ate them.

They accomplish this Jonah-like feet by using their chemical cocktail to encourage the amphibian

to barf them back up.

The findings served up in the journal Biology Letters.

Researchers collected 37 beetles and 37 toads from a forest in Central Japan.

Some of the toads, those of the species Bufo Japonicus, shared their territory with the

Bambadir beetles. Others, the Bufo Taranticola, inhabit the nearby streams and don't normally

encounter these feisty bugs.

Back in the lab, the researchers paired off their collected specimens,

and each toad was allowed to capture and swallow a single beetle.

And then came the fireworks.

As the authors note in their paper, an explosion was audible inside each toad,

which means that somewhere along the elementary canal,

...