ATTACK OF THE VAMPIRE BUTTERFLIES

December 17, 2021 4:45 AM

"Their images show adult milkweed butterflies tearing into the thin skin of nearby caterpillars, then drinking from the wounds... Tea and his colleagues even found a recording of an adult butterfly attacking another adult, slashing at and drinking from its wings." Study PDF.
posted by clawsoon (20 comments total)

0_o
posted by solotoro at 4:51 AM on December 17, 2021 [6 favorites]

Mind you, the tables would likely turn in a heartbeat if those butterflies engaged in a life or death struggle with Pantomime Princess Margaret. She is not to be messed with.
posted by zaixfeep at 5:59 AM on December 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

If I'm reading this right, it's not just milkweed butterfly vampirism, it's CANNIBALISM. And I guess it makes sense through a competitive-ecology lens: they're all competing for the same comounds in the local plant leaves, so if the caterpillars have eaten all the available pyrrolizidine alkaloids, why not just skip the middleman and feast on the tasty caterpillars instead?
posted by Mayor West at 6:28 AM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

Also come on down to the Orpheum this Friday to see my band, The Kleptopharmacophagists, opening for Quiet Riot.
posted by Mayor West at 6:29 AM on December 17, 2021 [8 favorites]

I knew butterflies were terrible. I knew it.
posted by Torosaurus at 6:38 AM on December 17, 2021 [6 favorites]

"I drink your milkshake!"
posted by jim in austin at 6:44 AM on December 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

Mrs. HeroZero and I did DIY corsages and boutonnieres for our wedding. They used local wildflowers and were set in dried milkweed pods from a friend's garden.

They were very nice and our wedding was lovely and I can't believe that the memories are now tarnished because of some violent butterfly wing-nuts.
posted by HeroZero at 6:58 AM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Butterflies drinking blood, pee, poop. More NSFL Lepidopteran comestibles at 7 Disgusting Things Butterflies Eat (Mental Floss).
posted by cenoxo at 7:46 AM on December 17, 2021

“Caterpillars, particularly milkweed caterpillars, are just bags of macerated leaves..."

I mean, yes? An amazing description.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:11 AM on December 17, 2021 [8 favorites]

I think I kind of learned this at one point, and then every now and then I have an image of butterflies as carnivores and have to shake it off because it feels so wrong. But, it's pretty true.

I guess we all contain multitudes.
posted by allthinky at 8:51 AM on December 17, 2021 [5 favorites]

This article sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Spiders Local 54.
posted by ensign_ricky at 9:08 AM on December 17, 2021 [14 favorites]

This is all very disappointing.
posted by dmh at 9:20 AM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

This article sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Spiders Local 54.

"You think you gotta pretty little butterfly, no harm at all... but lemme tell you sumpin', Lenny..."
posted by clawsoon at 9:30 AM on December 17, 2021 [5 favorites]

S A V A G E
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 1:54 PM on December 17, 2021

This is somehow Billy Corgan's fault, isn't it? I'm getting strong Corgan vibes here.
posted by symbioid at 2:00 PM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

Worth making a plug here for the iNaturalist app the article mentions. It's super great, as is its sister app Seek! (previously)
posted by nickmark at 2:05 PM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Today's reminder that monsters are real.
posted by acb at 4:35 PM on December 17, 2021

Butterflies are just dishonest moths.
posted by lkc at 5:34 PM on December 17, 2021

"She raises her harpoon...AND FIRES!"
posted by Windopaene at 8:28 PM on December 17, 2021

From September 9, 2021:
Attacking their own - weird butterfly aggression This is what we 2021 old timers would call a double post. Or, at least, a Previously.
posted by y2karl at 10:46 PM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]