[RJK18]

Originally Posted by Cyanide

While nature has a great potential to foil human-made solutions (such as aluminum tubes), I think it might be pretty close to impossible to accept that beetles could compromise metal. Insects' exoskeletons are made of chiton, which is not much different from the keratin that makes up your hair and nails. Of course, this is laid down in a format more akin to your fingernails. I could see you being able to dent an aluminum tube with chiton, but this would require a force pretty much being applied perpendicular to the surface of the metal sheet. Considering the form of a metal tube, applying that force from inside of the tube would, especially in a scissoring fashion that you would expect from a beetle's pincer-like mouth peices, and I don't think the proper forces could be applied. Further, I don't think the proper anchoring could be accomplished to ensure the beetle doesn't push itself away from the tube as it attempts to puncture the wall would be present. And, there is probably more than enough tobacco inside the tube to keep the beetle happy and not willing to expend that much energy to begin with.

Now, say that tube had a crack in it. Then the beetle could get a "pincer" outside the tube maybe, and then could use the above-mentioned scissor action to continue to carve out bits of aluminum. I could "buy that". I think the tubes would have to have been previously damaged in order for a beetle to be able to further compromise it.

But that is just my own armchair speculation.

Cheers

Cyanide

You lost me at "chiton"