Jul 21, 2025 04:55 PM
https://www.sciencealert.com/many-butter...uld-be-why
INTRO: Tropical lizards love to snack on butterflies, but sometimes, they have trouble telling which end is which. That's because many butterflies in the Lycaenidae family have evolved marvelously deceptive wings.
A study by two entomologists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram reveals the complex interplay of genes required to achieve such an act of subterfuge.
Butterfly wings aren't very good eating: it's the juicy, nutrient-rich body that predators are after. But the 'false heads' seen at the tail-end of more than 900 different species of lycaenid butterflies leave many a predator with a mouth full of dusty hindwing scales, and the bitter aftertaste of deception.
Meanwhile, the butterflies can escape with just a few tears to their wings, leaving vital organs intact: ideal for passing on their life-saving genes to future generations.
Not every species takes quite the same approach: Airamanna columbia produces several 'antennae' and a cartoonish red 'eye'; Arawacus aetolus pairs realism with graphic dazzle to confound onlookers... (MORE - details)
Butterfly with two heads ... https://youtu.be/sFxp3ujTOYo
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sFxp3ujTOYo
INTRO: Tropical lizards love to snack on butterflies, but sometimes, they have trouble telling which end is which. That's because many butterflies in the Lycaenidae family have evolved marvelously deceptive wings.
A study by two entomologists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram reveals the complex interplay of genes required to achieve such an act of subterfuge.
Butterfly wings aren't very good eating: it's the juicy, nutrient-rich body that predators are after. But the 'false heads' seen at the tail-end of more than 900 different species of lycaenid butterflies leave many a predator with a mouth full of dusty hindwing scales, and the bitter aftertaste of deception.
Meanwhile, the butterflies can escape with just a few tears to their wings, leaving vital organs intact: ideal for passing on their life-saving genes to future generations.
Not every species takes quite the same approach: Airamanna columbia produces several 'antennae' and a cartoonish red 'eye'; Arawacus aetolus pairs realism with graphic dazzle to confound onlookers... (MORE - details)
Butterfly with two heads ... https://youtu.be/sFxp3ujTOYo