Do Bombardier Beetles Fly?

Bombardier beetles can’t fly. They have wings, but they are just vestiges from their evolutionary past. The wings were used for flight once upon a time in their evolutionary history, but not anymore.

Bombardier beetles are graced with a pair of long blue wings which adorn and cover most of their body (see the photo on the left for an illustration of that).

But the body of the bombardier beetle is just too big and heavy for their wings to be of any use now. Somewhere along the line it traded in its flight capabilities for the ability to fire biological cannon shots at its foes.

The bombardier beetle may have an awesome defense mechanism which trumps all of its beetle brethren, and perhaps even all insects as a whole, but it doesn’t have the ability to fly like Japanese beetles do.