Riding on the tractor I had a great spangled fritillary land on my hand and ride along with me for 3 minutes. Intent on puddling, it remained there while I got out my camera for a video. Hackberry emperor butterflies are also famous for landing on humans for sweat and I have had several times when I had one land on me repeatedly.
 |
| Dead opossum - Mort Shurtz |
Puddling behavior is observed in lepidoptera and a few other insect species. They will collect fluid from damp soil, animal dung, and even carrion. This red-spotted purple butterfly was on a two week old opossum carcass. It is common to see several species puddling together in the summer.
These butterflies were on raccoon scat. Males are especially prone to mass puddling. The collected
sodium and amino acids are often transferred to the female with the spermatophore during mating as a nuptial gift. This nutrition also enhances the survival rate of the eggs.
One photographic trick to attract puddlers is to pour a little salt water on the ground and wait for butterflies to puddle for the camera. Some photographers suggest placing a decoy of a dead butterfly or even a piece of colored paper to attract species in the neighborhood. When out in the field, a male naturalist may chose to supply salts and ammonium in the form of urea from a convenient portable source. This is not a trick we have shared with the 5th grade WOLF students.
To watch some of the puddling action at Bull Creek, check out this
this Youtube video.
