One Beetle’s Epic Journey

If you know anything about the museum you should be aware that we’re quite into bums and poo.

There are many reasons for this, which we explore AT LENGTH in the museum but a particularly important reason is that study into bums shouldn’t be taboo.

A lack of research into bums, and other ‘rude’ parts of the body (please see the excellent work of the vagina museum) has put humans on a poor footing when it comes to addressing bum health. This is not cool, so drop the taboo and let’s talk about bums.

And what better way to introduce the humble bum than by sharing this amusing observation of a small beetle surviving the entire journey through a frog!

Researchers in Japan were looking at the relationship between the aquatic beetle Regimbartia attenuata, and the frog that they share their habitat with. As scientists often do, they fed the beetle to the frogs and then waited to see what happened.

They expected that the frogs would spit them out, but instead, these spritely beetles carried on going, shuffling through the entire digestive tract of the frog before emerging again, covered in poo, but otherwise fine.

They found after further studies, that this beetle survived transit 93% of the time they were eaten, hypothesising that they use their legs to walk through the frog. Seemingly the frog is no worse off either, although we can’t imagine it’s very pleasant having a beetle in your bum.

P.C: S. Sugiura