The Bombardier Beetle: Evolution or Creation?
by Owen Borville
June 11, 2019
Biology
The bombardier beetle is a type of arthropod insect found on every continent throughout the world in various environments including woodlands, grasslands, temperate zones, and other moist environments except Antarctica. The bombardier beetle has a characteristic behavioral feature: the ability to eject a chemical spray from its body outward as a defense mechanism. This feature has been mentioned by creationists as a problem for the mainstream evolutionist philosophy associated with biological systems and organisms. This chemical spray is produced from a chemical reaction inside this beetle's body, a reaction between hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide. The heat from this chemical reaction causes the temperature to reach near the boiling point of water (100 degrees Celsius) and produce a gas that causes the energy needed to eject the gaseous spray from the beetle's body outward. The beetle can spray this chemical in different directions and this ability helps protect the beetle from predators, including other insects. The pressure buildup from this near boiling gas inside the beetle's body causes valves inside its body chamber where the chemical is stored to close, enabling the protection of its own internal organs. This is another unique feature in that this deadly harmful chemical ejected by this beetle does not harm its own body. Rather, this beetle's body is specifically designed to handle this chemical without harming itself. The beetle also has an fire-resistant-lined chamber to store the chemical in its body, therefore keeping the beetle safe. It is difficult to explain how this ability could evolve over long periods of time without the beetle destroying itself along the way. Scientists have discovered that the chemical is sprayed in multiple quick smaller sequential spurts instead of one large spray all at once, therefore keeping the bombardier beetle safe. Design is apparent in the bombardier beetle.
This chemical spray is capable of being deadly to some predators, while it also causes irritation to the eyes and respiratory system of predator animals, including vertebrates. While the bombardier beetle is carnivorous itself and eats other insects, it has this unique weapon to protect itself, a weapon that other insects do not have. The bombardier beetle has also been observed to survive being swallowed by a toad after releasing this chemical spray and causing the toad to spit out the beetle. This system inside the bombardier beetle's body has been mentioned by creationists as incredibly complex and has been described as a feature that could not have evolved by random evolutionist processes over millions of years, as mainstream scientists propose. Evolutionists are always looking for ways that complex biological systems could have emerged by accidental chance and random processes from simpler, less complex systems over long periods of time. These evolutionists continue to promote a false interpretation of nature and deny the possibility of a creation event by a intelligent and powerful Creator, despite overwhelming evidence of design within observed biological systems. Creationists assert that the bombardier beetle and its unique defense mechanism is the product of an intelligent designer who had a specific design in mind for this particular insect and created this unique insect during the creation week 6,000 years ago.
by Owen Borville
June 11, 2019
Biology
The bombardier beetle is a type of arthropod insect found on every continent throughout the world in various environments including woodlands, grasslands, temperate zones, and other moist environments except Antarctica. The bombardier beetle has a characteristic behavioral feature: the ability to eject a chemical spray from its body outward as a defense mechanism. This feature has been mentioned by creationists as a problem for the mainstream evolutionist philosophy associated with biological systems and organisms. This chemical spray is produced from a chemical reaction inside this beetle's body, a reaction between hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide. The heat from this chemical reaction causes the temperature to reach near the boiling point of water (100 degrees Celsius) and produce a gas that causes the energy needed to eject the gaseous spray from the beetle's body outward. The beetle can spray this chemical in different directions and this ability helps protect the beetle from predators, including other insects. The pressure buildup from this near boiling gas inside the beetle's body causes valves inside its body chamber where the chemical is stored to close, enabling the protection of its own internal organs. This is another unique feature in that this deadly harmful chemical ejected by this beetle does not harm its own body. Rather, this beetle's body is specifically designed to handle this chemical without harming itself. The beetle also has an fire-resistant-lined chamber to store the chemical in its body, therefore keeping the beetle safe. It is difficult to explain how this ability could evolve over long periods of time without the beetle destroying itself along the way. Scientists have discovered that the chemical is sprayed in multiple quick smaller sequential spurts instead of one large spray all at once, therefore keeping the bombardier beetle safe. Design is apparent in the bombardier beetle.
This chemical spray is capable of being deadly to some predators, while it also causes irritation to the eyes and respiratory system of predator animals, including vertebrates. While the bombardier beetle is carnivorous itself and eats other insects, it has this unique weapon to protect itself, a weapon that other insects do not have. The bombardier beetle has also been observed to survive being swallowed by a toad after releasing this chemical spray and causing the toad to spit out the beetle. This system inside the bombardier beetle's body has been mentioned by creationists as incredibly complex and has been described as a feature that could not have evolved by random evolutionist processes over millions of years, as mainstream scientists propose. Evolutionists are always looking for ways that complex biological systems could have emerged by accidental chance and random processes from simpler, less complex systems over long periods of time. These evolutionists continue to promote a false interpretation of nature and deny the possibility of a creation event by a intelligent and powerful Creator, despite overwhelming evidence of design within observed biological systems. Creationists assert that the bombardier beetle and its unique defense mechanism is the product of an intelligent designer who had a specific design in mind for this particular insect and created this unique insect during the creation week 6,000 years ago.