Even After Being Eaten, This Beetle Has Two Ways Out Alive | Defector

"If the beetle is swallowed by a frog, it can zoom on through the digestive system and be excreted within six minutes, alive and apparently none the worse for wear. Sugiura found that 90 percent of water scavenger beetles clawed their way out the frog's derrière alive, according to the 2020 paper he published in Current Biology."

"The bug must navigate through a twisting tube of intestines large and small. And a frog's intestines represent their best stab at killing prey, given the fact that most frogs have no teeth or means with which to kill a beetle before swallowing it. Sugiura suspects that the beetles must be using their legs to make their way through the frog."

The Japanese water scavenger beetle Regimbartia attenuata possesses a remarkable defense mechanism against predation by frogs. Ecologist Shinji Sugiura discovered this ability while studying insect defenses in frog-filled paddy fields. When frogs consumed other beetle species, they excreted them as carcasses days later. However, water scavenger beetles survive the entire digestive process, emerging alive within six minutes to six hours after being swallowed. Approximately 90 percent of beetles escape unharmed. The beetles navigate through the frog's intestinal tract using their legs, overcoming the frog's primary defense mechanism since most frogs lack teeth to kill prey before swallowing.

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