The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

One possible chemical route is that the beetle makes within itself a starting compound made of a quinol. This is prevalent in beetles as it is quinol compounds (e.g. anthraquinol C 14 H 10 O 2 ) and phenols (with only one hydroxyl attached to a carbon ring) which produce the variety of smells which play such an important part to insect existence. In this case we know that hydroquinone is involved, and it is suggested that the oxidation of the hydroquinone C 6 H 6 O 2 is taking place in the reservoir. Fig. 9 shows this diagrammatically in terms of a carbon ring diagram. This will be a slow reaction and in the absence of catalysts such as catalase and peroxidase, then the reverse reaction (whereby the hydrogen peroxide recombines with the hydroquinone to produce benzoquinone and water – that which takes place in the reaction chamber) is not taking place in the reservoir or the connections to the reaction chamber. Di Giulo, Muzzi and Romani (2015) agree with McIntosh and Prongidis (2010) that the thin tube called the collecting duct or efferent duct (Eisner et al. 2001) is of a constant very small diameter (of the order of between 5-10 µm) but exceedingly long – possibly as long as 2 ×10 4 µm (2 cms). Such a thin tube may have its own catalyst to enable this oxidation reaction to occur. POSSIBLE APPLICATION TO HYDROGEN PEROXIDE PRODUCTION One of the main uses of hydrogen peroxide is the manufacture of “green” bleaching agents such as perborates and percarbonates for the paper and textile industries. Other significant uses include wastewater treatment, cleaning printed circuit boards, food bleaching with diluted H 2 O 2 , cleaning wounds and hospital instruments with very diluted H 2 O 2 , activation of land based gas turbines under fuel lean conditions by adding small amounts of H 2 O 2 to the aviation fuel (Prongidis et al. 2012) and military uses for combustion. Most methods of producing H 2 O 2 today use a combination of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions. It is a batch chemical autoxidation process involving two main stages – a hydrogenation reaction of anthroquinone over Ni or Pd catalysts producing anthroquinol, then secondly followed by an oxidiser reaction where the anthroquinol is turned back to anthroquinone and hydrogen peroxide. This method involves considerable energy expended in heating and cooling at each stage and condensing out the peroxide from the water – H 2 O 2 mixture at the end of the process whereby the anthroquinone can then be reused for the hydrogenating part of the cycle. Laporte Chemicals first set up these methods in 1959 (Platinum review 1959) and they are now the most common method of production. Other methods are being considered using more direct routes of direct synthesis of hydrogen and oxygen (Samanta 2008) usually still involving a palladium catalyst. The LaPorte method is costly and needs a considerable outlay in terms of capital expenditure in making the chemical plant as well as the heating and cooling control systems. Consequently the alternative that is used by the bombardier beetle is of considerable interest, since a method for producing a small amount of H 2 O 2  could well have a number of advantages and applications, since it has the potential to be cheaper than the current production methods described above. CONCUDING REMARKS This paper has considered recent research into the workings of the bombardier beetle spray system. The workings display repeatedly both in the mechanics of the defence spray system and also in the chemistry, that irreducible complexity is involved in setting up interlocking systems – that is these systems will not work unless all the sub-systems involved are working in harmony together. This is particularly evident in the intricate twin valve system of the beetle, and the catalytic chemistry such that at exactly the right moment, the heating takes place in the combustion chamber prior to the exhaust system which, along with the moveable turret, is again an example of irreducible complexity. The inference of design is inescapable. The investigation has also shown that this is a classic example of biomimetics and already the valve system is being copied in order to produce controllable spray systems for use in fuel injectors, drug delivery systems, consumer aerosols and fire extinguishers. Work is proceeding on seeking to understand the method by which the beetle makes small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. Such a valuable insight into the chemistry has major applications to many household and military uses for H 2 O 2 . REFERENCES Aneshansley, D.J., T. Eisner, M. Widom, and B. Widom. 1969. Biochemistry at 100°C: explosive secretory discharge of bombardier beetles (brachinus). Science 165, no. 3888:61–63. Aneshansley, D.J., and T. Eisner. 1999. Spray aiming in the bombardier beetle: Photographic evidence. Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 96, no. 17:9705–9709. Arndt, E.M., W. Moore, W-K. Lee, and C. Ortiz. 2015. Mechanistic origins of bombardier beetle (Brachinini) explosion-induced defensive spray pulsation. Science 348, no. 6234:563-567. Beheshti, N., and A.C. McIntosh. 2007a. A biomimetic study of the explosive discharge of the Bombardier Beetle . International Journal of Design and Nature 1, no. 1:61-69. Beheshti, N., and A.C. McIntosh. 2007b. The bombardier beetle and its use of a pressure relief valve system to deliver a periodic pulsed spray. Bioinspiration and Biomimetics 2:57–64 [Institute of Physics]. Bheshti, N., and A.C. McIntosh. 2008. A novel spray system inspired by the bombardier beetle. In Design and Nature IV, ed. C.A. Brebbia, pp. McIntosh and Lawrence ◀ Design of the bombardier beetle ▶ 2018 ICC 275 Figure 9 Oxidation of hydroquinone, which may be instrumental in producing hydrogen peroxide in the bombardier beetle.