In the natural world, things are not often what they appear to be. The most beautiful and fragrant fruit can be deadly to eat, and even the sweetest looking animal can be more dangerous than you ever imagined.
But you don’t need to venture into the deepest, darkest jungles to see what we mean. Even animals we see every day have deep dark secrets. Take, for example the beautiful butterfly.
Everyone loves butterflies. They’re just so beautiful!
But did you know that all butterflies, given the opportunity, will happily drink your blood?
Rest easy, there aren’t any butterflies capable of inflicting a bloody wound on a human.
But if given access to the stuff, butterflies have been known to settle in and slurp it right up.
It might sound disturbing, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Blood contains all manner of minerals and nutrients that are beneficial for most living organisms.
It also contains a significant amount of sodium and glucose, two essential dietary blocks for most butterflies. Both of these are also found in fruit.
Hovering over pools of fluids is a practice called mud-puddling. Butterflies examine puddles of mud, blood, feces, or gore and extract whatever nutrients are available to them.
Another common source of mud-puddling? Tears, another rich source of sodium.
Just try not to think about that the next time one of these beautiful creatures lands on your shoulder!
Oh, did we mention there is a species of moth that will actually bite you to extract the yummy red stuff?
I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly never going to be able to look at butterflies the same way again. Yikes!
Categorised in: Bizarre, vampires
This post was written by Nadia Vella