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| Carnivorous captive - Kevin Firth |
Kevin Firth sent me these photographs of his fearlessly holding a
carnivorous harvester butterfly
, Feniseca tarquinius, that he had found on Rocky Barrens CA north of Springfield
. This is the only carnivorous butterfly species in North America.
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| Chilling out with Kevin Firth |
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| Short proboscis - Kevin Firth |
Kevin's feat isn't as reckless as it sounds. The butterfly itself isn't carnivorous but obtains its nutrition by using its short proboscis to sip
honeydew
from aphids rather than nectar from flowers. Scale insects and aphids
sucking high pressure phloem from plants excrete the sugary fluid out
their intestines where it is collected by some species of ants, bees and
wasps and sometimes car windows.
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| Woolly aphid - Mark Bower |
The carnivorous behavior occurs earlier in its life cycle. The females lay their eggs in colonies of woolly aphids and sometimes scale insects. The caterpillars then eat the aphids, sometimes protecting themselves under a silk mat with a coating of aphid carcasses. You may recall the woolly aphids from
last month's blog.
Interesting that an aphid camouflaged by material on its back is devoured by a caterpillar that uses aphids' bodies to cover itself, the insect version of Russian nesting dolls.
The caterpillars share a chemical profile with the aphids, and that, plus their cover of aphid bodies are felt to serve as protection from ants that will farm these aphids like cattle, collecting their honeydew. Just another example of the complex networks of symbiosis, parasite and prey relationships in nature.
July 20, 2016 update
Kevin raised the caterpillars and now has the pupa. Congratulations, Dad!
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| Carnivorous caterpillar- Kevin Firth |
Read a more detailed account with photographs at this Florida University site.
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| F. tarquinius chilling out- Linda Ellis |
Want to photograph a butterfly on your finger? Unless you are lucky enough to have one land on you like Linda Ellis, try chilling it in the refrigerator for a while, then shoot fast before it warms up and flies away.
