Dorynota pugionata – The benefits of a telescopic anus

Almost 40 % of insects and about 25 % of all known animal species worldwide are beetles – the fact left the britsh-indian scientist J.B.S. Haldane to remark that “God has an inordinate fondness for beetles.” In this episode of “Weird Species”, Prof. Dr. Julia Sigwart talks to Dr. Marianna Simões about what makes these tiny creatures so special. Marianna also introduces us to her favorite species, Dorynota pugionata: a member of the subfamily Cassidinae, that over time, has come up with ingenious adaptations, the most spectacular among them a fecal shield built with their telescopic anus.