An impostor among us – a false bombardier beetle looking sus The false bombardier beetle ( Galerita bicolor) has evolved to look almost identical to its namesake, with some minor differences in colouration and morphology. Mimicry is seen everywhere in the animal kingdom – creatures evolve to look like more dangerous ones, which gives them a deceptive advantage. With the large area of effect this defensive spray has, it’d be wise to consider carefully whether the bombardier beetle is worth the inevitable casualties. If you’re the size of an insect, however, the momentary boiling temperature of this liquid can easily be fatal. If you’re a large vertebrate predator, this irritant is likely to be enough to put you off having a bombardier beetle for dinner. Near-boiling liquid is explosively fired at the beetle’s enemies
The resultant mixture reaches close to the boiling point of water and is expelled by the rapid rise in pressure through an opening pointed at the beetle’s enemy. A bombardier beetle faces off against fire antsīy mixing various chemicals and enzymes together in a special internal chamber, the beetle produces a violently exothermic reaction. They get their name from the distinctive popping sound they make when threatened, and a closer look at the cause of this sound reveals a defensive system that can be deadly if you happen to be small and in its way. There are several species – this one is called Brachinus alternans. Bombardier Beetleīombardiers are a kind of well-armoured ground beetle. Naturally, we need more beetles in Empires of the Undergrowth ( but perhaps not so many as to cause an uprising…) so we have a few more joining our various tiger beetles and rove beetles in the upcoming fourth tier. They appear throughout human culture and history, in art and science – they exist just about everywhere that we do. They are the most diverse group of insects, and arguably of all animals.
We’ve still got quite a few critters to show off as we complete work on them, as well as a few we don’t want to spoil until we get very close to release time.
We also have some talk about new AI systems that we’ve been working on over the past few weeks, which will be used in the last of the campaign levels and eventually in freeplay too! A classically red Formica ereptor queen from GlitchyGamer This newsletter will spotlight some more enemies coming for the fire ant update, with a particular focus on nature’s favoured form – the beetle.
0 kommentar(er)
