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You might think butterflies are just pretty flappy things happily perching on flowers being generally lovely and harmless. But let’s pretend for a second that you’re locked in a cage match with a butterfly. Would you always win? Are you sure? It’s true that butterflies and moths as a whole are pretty well known for lacking any obvious physical weapons to engage in combat. But that’s not the same as being totally defenseless. A lot of things like to eat butterflies – so as you’d expect, they’ve got a few tricks up their sleeves to turn the tables. Here’s a few examples of why that cage match might not be a sure thing.

Some butterflies choose to throw down the complex way, with powerful friends or deadly toxins or ornate body parts. Some do things the simple way. The old fashioned way. They throw hands – well, wings. The African oakleaf butterfly divebombs other butterflies in its territory. Other similar butterflies that do this, like the African monarch, are fairly equal opportunity with who they divebomb – taking on dragonflies, for example. Not only do they come screaming toward their target out of the blue, but the monarchs also flash their colored wings as a disorientation tactic.

Butterflies in the family known as Lycaenidae like to buddy up with ant colonies. There are a number of genera in this group, but the one that interests us is Phengaris. Basically: you mess with the larvae, you mess with their friends. Though… maybe friends isn’t quite the right word. The larvae in this group effectively trick the ants into looking after them. It’s mainly believed they release chemical signatures that induce the ants to carry the larva safely to the nest. There, the ants care for and feed the larva… whose preferred food is ant eggs.

The European Swallowtail has mastered the art of the ol’ razzle dazzle. One of its common predators is the great tit. That’s a kind of bird. When one of these birds encounters the butterfly, it flashes its wings, swapping from dull to bright colours quickly in a showy defense known as a deimatic or startle display. According to one study, In the vast majority of cases, this is a successful way for the butterfly to defend itself.

The Julia butterfly also has an interesting defense. Despite their reputation as dedicated nectar enjoyers, butterflies in general aren’t opposed to indulging in some pretty weird foods. Because some butterflies actually want you to cry… so they can drink your tears. This is a behavior known as lachryphagy that dozens of moths and butterflies engage in. The Julia butterfly is known for drinking the tears of caimans, and it’s believed to be due to the protein content in tears. Sweat has 200 times less protein than tears, and is uncommon in the natural world, making tears the ideal energy drink. Another butterfly, the purple emperor, is known to eat roadkill and dog feces, likely to obtain salt and minerals.

The Eupitheca genus of moths native to Hawai’i are predatory as caterpillars. It is believed that this behavior is due to the plants they eat being high in protein, lashing out when disturbed, and a lack of preying mantis predators on the islands.

The genus Heterogynis of moths is known for matrivory, where the adult female moth will lay their eggs and wait for their larvae to eat them.

Finally, many butterflies are poisonous, containing cardenolides which can stop the heart. So don’t eat butterflies! The monarch butterfly is a renowned migratory species of North American butterfly, known for its dazzling wing patterns. But not only are they toxic, they have different concentrations of toxins in different parts of their body. Their wings have high concentrations of relatively weak toxins to warn potential predators off. However, if predators learn to pluck the wings off and eat the body, they will be met with a small but potent dose of an emetic. Other species of butterflies and moths have other defensive mechanisms, such as pupae that have spikes, are poisonous, or covered in tiny delicate hairs that catch in the mouth and throat and cause irritation. Even when they are at their most vulnerable, butterflies can still protect themselves. This shows that nature is very creative when it comes to survival.

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