This bug can survive being run over by a car, but how?

[Mike Wehner]

• Researchers studying a special kind of beetle have discovered that it has an incredibly rugged exoskeleton that allows it to withstand extreme pressure.
• The diabolical ironclad beetle can survive being run over by a car in some cases.
• The beetle's shell may inspire advances in high-strength materials.

Bugs have to be on the lookout for many different threats during their lives. Just about everything will eat them, from birds to reptiles and most things in between, and that's not to mention the threats that humans pose. Humans are perhaps the best bug-killers of all, having developed pesticides that wipe out entire populations (for better and sometimes for worse), and if that doesn't work we have our feet and, of course, our cars.

There's one beetle in particular, however, that not only doesn't mind ending up underneath a human shoe but can even survive being run over by a car. That's some serious power, but how does it pull it off? A new study published in Nature attempts to answer that question.

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This bug can survive being run over by a car, but how? originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2020 at 20:06:06 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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