Teaching overview

Learning points

  • The oogpister beetle eats ants, which are much smaller than it is.
  • Ants try to defend themselves by biting the oogpister beetle's legs, but the beetle simply kicks them away.
  • To protect itself from a bigger animal, such as a mongoose, the oogpister beetle squirts acid at it.

Curriculum keywords

  • Animals
  • Adaptation
  • Predators

Spark a discussion

  • How does the oogpister beetle defend itself?
  • Why do you think the beetle uses different defenses against small and large attackers?
  • Do you know of any other interesting animal defenses?

Twig Science: A Complete Pre-K–8 Program for the NGSS

Immersive Investigations with High-Quality Multimedia

  • Investigating, designing, building, and understanding phenomena
  • Hands-on, digital, video, and print investigations
  • Synchronous/asynchronous distance learning