Butterflies Are Grosser Than You Think
Butterflies may be pretty and graceful, but they’re far from the delicate, pristine creatures they may appear to be. In fact, some of their habits are downright gross. Butterflies eat mud, dung, and even each other. And that’s just scratching the surface. But despite these more unappetizing qualities, butterflies are still fascinating, and many of them have adapted some pretty neat evolutionary tricks to help them survive.
Some Start Off As Cannibals
Butterflies may be symbols of beauty, but their earliest days are surprisingly brutal. Monarch caterpillars begin life by chewing their way out of their eggs. For some, the first meal isn’t a leaf — it’s the eggshell they just emerged from. Then, if nearby eggs haven’t hatched yet, they may move on to those as well, sometimes eating their own siblings before they’ve had a chance to emerge.
Female monarchs help reduce this sibling rivalry by scattering their eggs across multiple milkweed plants instead of laying them all in one place. Monarchs aren’t alone. While most caterpillars are plant eaters, some butterfly and moth species are active predators. The Harvester butterfly lays its eggs near aphid colonies, while several Australian and Asian species sneak into ant nests where their caterpillars feast on ant larvae.
They Eat Mud and Dung
Flowers aren’t the only thing on a butterfly’s menu. They also eat decaying animals, mud, and fresh piles of poop. These meals sound grotesque to humans, but they’re chock-full of nutrients like salts and amino acids that plants don’t provide. The butterflies use a process called “mud puddling” — a common behavior that involves flocking to and fluttering in fresh dung, dead animals, or mud —to slurp up the nutrients available. Vileness aside, it’s an unexpectedly mesmerizing show.
They Drink Tears and Urine
Mud puddling doesn’t always involve mud. Butterflies have been observed sipping tears from turtles and crocodiles, drinking from urine-soaked soil, and even filtering nutrients from sewage. While the menu sounds revolting to us, these salty fluids provide sodium and amino acids that nectar lacks.
Mud puddling and urine drinking are largely male behaviors. They use this strategy to gather sodium for their “nuptial gift” — a nutritious sperm package — that is passed on to females during reproduction.
They Get In Bar Fights
Butterflies may look delicate, but they’re surprisingly territorial. In Kenya, a group of white-barred butterflies was spotted boozing via the fermenting (and therefore alcohol-rich) sap from a fallen log. While most butterflies soaked up the sap, two hothead butterflies ended up in a deadly fight. They spiraled and sliced at each other, according to an entomologist at the scene. The battle ended with a pair of shredded wings.
This aggression doesn’t stop with the white-barred butterfly. The zebra longwing butterfly uses excess force when mating. These male butterflies swarm around the young females as they hatch from their chrysalis. The males fight and jostle ferociously for the chance to call dibs.
Beer is Their Drink of Choice
While beer seems off brand for the elegant butterfly, it’s one of their favorite beverages on the market. Many gardeners use butterfly brew — a blend of bananas and beer like Guinness — to attract these graceful creatures to their gardens. Males are the primary beer drinkers. Just like the sodium in urine, male butterflies use the beer nutrients to pack extra goodies into their sperm package for future mates.
