Scientific name: Brachinus (Brachinus) crepitans (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name: Bombadier Beetle
Description: Bombadier beetles get their name from their remarkable defence mechanism. If disturbed, they release a hot, distasteful spray from their abdomen, making an audible popping noise when ejected. Charles Darwin once tried to catch one of these beetles in his mouth and got a nasty surprise when it squirted the spray down his throat! The defence worked, as Darwin spat the beetle out! Jenyns' notebook entry on the species reads: 'Two specimens of this insect were taken by the Rev. L. P. Garnons in a small chalk pit to the left hand side of the Madingley road about half way between the turnpike & the village, ~ first week in May 1827. ~ It has since been obtained in great plenty from several places in the neighbourhood of Cambridge.~'
