| Title |
Successful escape of bombardier beetles from predator digestive systems
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Biology Letters, February 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0647 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Shinji Sugiura, Takuya Sato |
| Abstract |
Some prey animals can escape from the digestive systems of predators after being swallowed. To clarify the ecological factors that determine the success of such an escape, we investigated how the bombardier beetle Pheropsophus jessoensis escapes from two toad species, Bufo japonicus and Btorrenticola, under laboratory conditions. Pheropsophus jessoensis ejects a hot chemical spray from the tip of the abdomen when it is attacked. Although all toads swallowed the bombardier beetles, 43% of the toads vomited the beetles 12-107 min after swallowing them. All the vomited beetles were still alive and active. Our experiment showed that Pjessoensis ejected hot chemicals inside the toads, thereby forcing the toads to vomit. Large beetles escaped more frequently than small beetles, and small toads vomited the beetles more frequently than large toads. Our results demonstrate the importance of the prey-predator size relationship in the successful escape of prey from inside a predator. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 907 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 217 | 24% |
| United States | 33 | 4% |
| United Kingdom | 24 | 3% |
| Canada | 9 | <1% |
| France | 5 | <1% |
| Spain | 4 | <1% |
| Germany | 4 | <1% |
| Australia | 4 | <1% |
| Moldova, Republic of | 2 | <1% |
| Other | 32 | 4% |
| Unknown | 573 | 63% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 849 | 94% |
| Scientists | 44 | 5% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 11 | 1% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 2 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 43 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 43 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 10 | 23% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 14% |
| Student > Master | 5 | 12% |
| Other | 3 | 7% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 3 | 7% |
| Other | 5 | 12% |
| Unknown | 11 | 26% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 18 | 42% |
| Environmental Science | 6 | 14% |
| Neuroscience | 2 | 5% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 1 | 2% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 14 | 33% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1224. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 April 2024.
All research outputs
#11,730
of 25,923,151 outputs
Outputs from Biology Letters
#18
of 3,452 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#224
of 449,972 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Biology Letters
#1
of 50 outputs
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