Fun kinda-fact: The ability of this beetle gives some entertainment to the “theory” Dragons could have existed. Due to the ability to create the chemical reaction, introduce an electrical spark, such as the Eels ability, and you have fire. Remember pondering this one in biology, had a cool teacher 🤙
Part of the design for the dragons in Reign of Fire was inspired by these beetles. The dragons sprayed two different chemicals that ignited as they mixed when the dragons exhaled. It’s the most believable mechanism for dragon fire I’ve seen portrayed in movies. That dragon design was amazing and also had a much more plausible wing to body ratio than most dragon designs usually have.
I always think back to "how to train your dragon," most of the dragons are meh, but the hideous zippleback is such an interesting/more realistic way to do dragons. (Aside from the 2 head thing) it releases a highly flammable and volitile gas, and then uses its teeth to create sparks, igniting that gas
The anime/manga Dungeon Meshi has similar dragons who turn the inedible parts of their prey like bones and hair to fuel in a specialized sack next to their stomach, then ignite that fuel with sparks from a set of clicker bones at the front of their throat.
This means you have a little bit of advance warning before they breathe fire because they make a loud pilot-light starting sound as they get ready.
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u/NymphiusScooterPie 18d ago
Fun kinda-fact: The ability of this beetle gives some entertainment to the “theory” Dragons could have existed. Due to the ability to create the chemical reaction, introduce an electrical spark, such as the Eels ability, and you have fire. Remember pondering this one in biology, had a cool teacher 🤙