The last blog discussed the anatomy of the incredible lepidopteran proboscis. Before we go further, I need to point out some other species which have a
proboscis. Some other animals, including snails, as seen on the right, use
long, prehensile proboscis for
feeding on a dead fish. Some other species have a proboscis used for function, beauty or just a good laugh.
In mammals the elephant trunk wins the function award but there are other famous contenders as well. Consider Jimmy Durante, a comedian who made a career of poking fun at his nose as in his song
Boys with the Proboscis.
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| Great spangled fritillary on sweaty head |
Some butterflies collect fluids that go beyond gross as described in
Blood, Sweat and Tears. Sweat feeding is not uncommon and some species like the
hackberry emperor
can be aggressive, landing repeatedly on sweaty surfaces even when brushed away. I have had
several land on me at the same time, evading my net by landing on my head. Before this makes you feel special,
they also feed on dung, mud puddles and animal urine.
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| Lachryphagy in the Peruvian Amazon - Phil Torres from Mix |
Tear‐feeding (lachryphagous) butterflies and moths can land on a larger animal and essentially
puddle around its eye. They poke their proboscis into the eye to stimulate tear production. They usually feed on turtles, some mammals and crocodiles (
yes, crocodile tears!). Although lepidoptera don't harvest human tears, there are
some bees that do. "Bees go after the tears instead of sweat since they're 200 times richer in proteins than sweat."
Hematophagous (blood-feeding) moths may get their blood from a wounded surface or by actually piercing the skin.
Calyptra sp. in the Old World all pierce the skin of fruit and 10 species will pierce even tough mammalian skin. Their specialized proboscis has a combination of erectile barbs and tear‐shaped hooks on each galea (half of the proboscis). "The insect rocks the proboscis from one side to the other, applying
pressure until it pierces the skin. It then uses a rocking head motion
to drill the tube deeper into the skin. The blood pressure of the victim supplies power to raise hooks on the proboscis to ensure the insect is not easily detached."
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| Goatweed leafwing butterfly competing with paper wasps - CB |
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| Five Comma Butteflies on a racoon carcass |
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Goatweed leafwing butterflies are flying in March. They overwinter as adults, hiding under loose bark, like on shagbark hickory, and emerging on warm days looking to collect sap. Chris Barnhart describes their thick proboscis that can feed on fruit and they will stick it right under the mandibles of paper wasps which are competing for the same food as in his photograph above.
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| Happy hour on the deck - Chris Barnhart |
Although they may use their wings to bat away competitors, butterflies can also become quite congenial in a puddle of the right kind of fluid as seen above. This was sap leaking from several spots on a tree and probably fermenting from a yeast infection. It was a popular hangout for several weeks. If only all of our human communities could get along like this!
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