Data from: Successful escape of bombardier beetles from predator digestive systems

Some prey animals can escape from the digestive systems of predators after
being swallowed. To clarify the ecological factors that determine the
success of such an escape, we investigated how the bombardier beetle
Pheropsophus jessoensis escapes from two toad species, Bufo japonicus and
B. torrenticola, under laboratory conditions. Pheropsophus jessoensis
ejects a hot chemical spray from the tip of the abdomen when it is
attacked. Although all toads swallowed the bombardier beetles, 43% of the
toads vomited the beetles 12–107 min after swallowing them. All the
vomited beetles were still alive and active. Our experiment showed that P.
jessoensis ejected hot chemicals inside the toads, thereby forcing the
toads to vomit. Large beetles escaped more frequently than small beetles,
and small toads vomited the beetles more frequently than large toads. Our
results demonstrate the importance of the prey–predator size relationship
in the successful escape of prey from inside a predator.