Thursday, December 2, 2010

"POO", does a body good!


Yes, that is a large cow patty this very beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail has her proboscis dipped into.While this looks very disgusting and is probably something you would never think of doing yourself, this butterfly benefits from it greatly. We as humans can drive to our local pharmacy or all-night super store and buy the vitamins and minerals we need. These lovely creatures obviously have no such luxury, so they have to find them where they may. Scat is loaded with minerals and other nutrients that not only this butterfly relishes, but so do many other insects. Just take a walk, anywhere there is sure to be poop, and each pile will look like an all-night diner after the bars let out...there won't be an empty seat available. Everything from Flies, Butterflies, and Beetles will all be sharing this buffet. I've even seen grasshoppers partake of scat. Mammals rarely digest all their food, and the tasty bits that remain are recycled through the animals body in the form of scat. Sometimes it is very easy to see what the animal had been feeding on, you might find hair, or even bones. Other times you might find berries or corn. All of these leftovers is what the insects are after....there may be as much as 50% of the energy left in this waste product from what was originally consumed.

Mother Nature provides, and sees to it that nothing goes to waste.....so try not to be too grossed out, think of it as a clean-up crew....they consume what we find distasteful or smelly and dispose of it for us, like miniature garbage collectors.

7 comments:

  1. I have read about this behaviour but have never seen it until now. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have come across such activities while hiking and find the glorious juxtaposition of an elaborate, delicate creation such as butterflies dining on poop cracks me UP. Yeah, baby. That's nay-chure! =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're welcome Friend of HK, I see this behavior quite a bit among a wide variety of insects....it is rather off-putting, especially out of butterflies. Talk about a contradiction....gorgeous butterfly...steaming pile of poo....it just doesn't add up does it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. It never fails to make me laugh either Bio...it just doesn't add up...
    With flies it makes perfect sense....flies are rather nasty little buggers, but butterflies....it just doesn't compute..lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. congrats! keep up the good work/this is a great presentation.
    Recycled timber

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great--now I feel stingy for flushing.

    ReplyDelete