Amazon
butterflies swipe food from ants, a never-before-seen behavior, a new
study says.
By Carrie Arnold
PUBLISHED JUNE 15, 2016
On a humid afternoon a few years
ago in the Peruvian Amazon, a flicker of motion caught Phil Torres' eye.
A cherry-spot metalmark butterfly (Adelotypa annulifera) was drinking
nectar from the tips of bamboo shoots.
As he watched, he
realized something strange was going
on. Normally butterflies only sip at nectar for a few seconds,
minutes at most—but these butterflies were feeding for hours, Torres later
discovered.
Even more bizarre, ants
that live on the bamboo and chase away other insects from
their home ignored the butterflies.
Many animals steal food, but
this is the first time that scientists have discovered adult
butterflies swiping food from ants.
“It was really cool. I had never
seen anything like it,” says Torres, co-author of a new study on the
behavior in the Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society.
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