Not all caterpillars turn into pretty butterflies . Some are made into live “shakes” for male butterflies that swallow fluids from the caterpillars to further attract females. In fact, scientists have reported in the journal Ecology the first evidence for this behavior of certain butterflies on caterpillars, whether living or dead. They were able to observe adult monarch butterflies in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, using the tiny ‘claws’ on their legs to scratch the caterpillar’s body and suck up the oozing fluid.
Male butterflies look for specific compounds produced by milkweed, a flowering plant in the Apocynaceae family. This substance repels predators and helps butterflies produce pheromones that attract females. The caterpillar is packed with the juice of the chewed plant, making it a good target for butterflies trying to chemically enhance its attractiveness to females.
“The caterpillar larvae would contort their bodies rapidly in what appeared to be futile attempts to deter persistent scratching by adults,” said the researchers who observed the butterfly drinking directly from the caterpillar , as shown in the accompanying image. to this news.
Thus, milkweed butterflies harass, subdue and subsequently feed on live, dead and dying caterpillars belonging to other milkweed butterflies, that is, the offspring of their family.
Is it a habitual behavior?
No way. This is the first time this unusual behavior has been observed in butterflies.
“The behavior does not fit perfectly into traditional modes of predation , parasitism or mutualism, thus presenting a new challenge to evolutionary theory. We have called it ‘kleptopharmacophagy’, theft of chemical products for consumption, “the authors explain.
Referencia: Kleptopharmacophagy? Milkweed butterflies scratch and imbibe from Apocynaceae-feeding caterpillars
Yi-Kai Tea, Jonathan Soong Wei, Ethan P. Beaver, David J. Lohman,
First published: 08 September 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3532
