In a comment below yesterday's Global Cooling post, Gaw raises the spectre of a carnivorous butterfly. Well, read this affecting tale, and weep... Truly, there is no end to Nature's wonders - and horrors.
Notice what the adult Harvester eats - aphid honeydew (fair enough), carrion, mud and dung. Our own Purple Emperor is partial to carrion an horse dung...
My understanding is that some species of butterfly are darn poisonous because of the toxins they acquire from food plants while caterpillars. I wonder if butterflies are on the menu in some parts of the world?
I guess the Bad List might contain a cross between a butterfly and a scorpion - colourful, absolutely beautiful, aggressive, airborne and - since it would be given to alighting on your arm - with a deadly sting in its tail.
Crumbs, they scalp the 'little fairies' too it seems. But then these are actually caterpillars rather than butterflies...
ReplyDeleteNature, red in sweet looks and little upturned noses.
ReplyDeleteNotice what the adult Harvester eats - aphid honeydew (fair enough), carrion, mud and dung. Our own Purple Emperor is partial to carrion an horse dung...
ReplyDeleteYes, no end to nature's wonders:
ReplyDelete"World’s first ‘nearly totally vegetarian’ spider."
excellent - wooly aphids needed sorting out.
ReplyDeletealso there's those really viscious bastards in hawaii
http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/good-bad/eupethecia.html
So are we putting butterflies in the bad list, then?
ReplyDeleteBrit, in a word - NOOOO!!!
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that some species of butterfly are darn poisonous because of the toxins they acquire from food plants while caterpillars. I wonder if butterflies are on the menu in some parts of the world?
ReplyDeleteI guess the Bad List might contain a cross between a butterfly and a scorpion - colourful, absolutely beautiful, aggressive, airborne and - since it would be given to alighting on your arm - with a deadly sting in its tail.
Thanks for sharing my post!
ReplyDelete