Editing Beetle (section)

===Anti-predator adaptations===
Beetles, both adults and larvae, are the prey of many animal [[predator]]s including [[mammals]] from [[bat]]s to [[rodent]]s, [[birds]], [[lizard]]s, [[amphibians]], [[fishes]], [[dragonflies]], [[robberflies]], [[Reduviidae|reduviid bugs]], [[ant]]s, other beetles, and [[spider]]s.<ref name="Evans27">[[#refEvans|Evans & Bellamy (2000)]], pp. 27–28</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Cott, H. B. |author-link=Hugh B. Cott |date=1940 |title=Adaptive Coloration in Animals |title-link=Adaptive Coloration in Animals |publisher=Methuen |page=[https://archive.org/details/adaptivecolorati00cott/page/414 414]}}</ref> Beetles use a variety of [[anti-predator adaptation]]s to defend themselves. These include [[camouflage]] and [[mimicry]] against predators that hunt by sight, toxicity, and defensive behaviour.

====Camouflage====
{{Further|Camouflage}}

Camouflage is common and widespread among beetle families, especially those that feed on wood or vegetation, such as [[leaf beetle]]s (Chrysomelidae, which are often green) and [[weevil]]s. In some species, sculpturing or various colored scales or hairs cause beetles such as the [[avocado]] weevil ''[[Heilipus apiatus]]'' to resemble bird dung or other inedible objects.<ref name="Evans27"/> Many beetles that live in sandy environments blend in with the coloration of that substrate.<ref name="Evans126">[[#refEvans|Evans & Bellamy (2000)]], p. 126</ref>

====Mimicry and aposematism====
[[File:Clyte bélier - MHNT - Vue dorsale.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Clytus arietis]]'' ([[Cerambycidae]]), a [[Batesian mimic]] of wasps]]
{{further|Mimicry|Aposematism}}

Some [[longhorn beetle]]s (Cerambycidae) are effective [[Batesian mimics]] of [[wasp]]s. Beetles may combine coloration with behavioural mimicry, acting like the wasps they already closely resemble. Many other beetles, including [[ladybirds]], [[blister beetle]]s, and [[Lycidae|lycid beetles]] secrete distasteful or toxic substances to make them unpalatable or poisonous, and are often [[aposematic]], where bright or contrasting [[animal coloration|coloration]] warn off predators; many beetles and other insects mimic these chemically protected species.<ref name="Evans"/>

[[File:Blister beetle (26390828032).jpg|thumb|Blister beetles such as ''[[Hycleus]]'' have brilliant [[aposematic]] coloration, warning of their toxicity.]]
[[File:Bloody -nosed Beetle^ Timarcha tenebricosa - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg|thumb|The bloody-nosed beetle, ''[[Timarcha tenebricosa]]'', [[antipredator adaptation|defending itself]] by releasing a droplet of noxious red liquid (base of leg, on right)|left|172x172px]]

Chemical defense is important in some species, usually being advertised by bright aposematic colors. Some [[Tenebrionidae]] use their posture for releasing noxious chemicals to warn off predators. Chemical defenses may serve purposes other than just protection from vertebrates, such as protection from a wide range of microbes. Some species sequester chemicals from the plants they feed on, incorporating them into their own defenses.<ref name="Evans126"/>

Other species have special glands to produce deterrent chemicals. The defensive glands of carabid ground beetles produce a variety of [[hydrocarbon]]s, [[aldehyde]]s, [[phenol]]s, [[quinone]]s, [[ester]]s, and [[acid]]s released from an opening at the end of the abdomen. African carabid beetles (for example, ''[[Anthia]]'') employ the same chemicals as ants: [[formic acid]].<ref name="Evans">[[#refEvans|Evans & Bellamy (2000)]]</ref> [[Bombardier beetle]]s have well-developed pygidial glands that empty from the sides of the intersegment membranes between the seventh and eighth abdominal segments. The gland is made of two containing chambers, one for [[hydroquinone]]s and [[hydrogen peroxide]], the other holding hydrogen peroxide and [[catalase]] enzymes. These chemicals mix and result in an explosive ejection, reaching a temperature of around {{convert|100|C|F}}, with the breakdown of hydroquinone to hydrogen, oxygen, and quinone. The oxygen propels the noxious chemical spray as a jet that can be aimed accurately at predators.<ref name=insenc/>

====Other defenses====
Large ground-dwelling beetles such as [[Carabidae]], the [[rhinoceros beetle]] and the longhorn beetles defend themselves using strong [[Mandible (insect)|mandibles]], or heavily sclerotised (armored) spines or horns to deter or fight off predators.<ref name="Evans126"/> Many species of weevil that feed out in the open on leaves of plants react to attack by employing a drop-off reflex. Some combine it with [[thanatosis]], in which they close up their appendages and "play dead".<ref name="insenc199">[[#refMcHugh|McHugh (2009)]], p. 199</ref> The click beetles ([[Elateridae]]) can suddenly catapult themselves out of danger by releasing the energy stored by a click mechanism, which consists of a stout spine on the prosternum and a matching groove in the mesosternum.<ref name="Evans27"/> Some species startle an attacker by producing sounds through a process known as [[stridulation]].<ref name="stridulation"/>