Why do bees collect nectar and butterflies don't eat nectar?

Butterflies belong to LEPIDOPTERA. At present, there are about 16500 species in the world, and about 400 species have been recorded in Taiwan Province province. Butterflies are completely abnormal insects, which go through four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

Eggs and larvae.

Pupa. Adults.

The growth process of Papilio includes four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

Butterflies mainly feed on nectar of various plants. Many butterflies and butterflies often absorb water in wetlands and canyons by streams. Some of them feed on nectar or fruit fermented juice from broken tree trunks, while others suck animal excrement such as feces and urine. The female butterfly will disappear from the host plant of the larva in order to lay eggs.

Some butterflies like fermented fruit. The white butterfly in the picture is sucking the juice of pineapple.

There are a pair of "smelly horns" hidden behind the head of the butterfly larva, which are not used at ordinary times. Once disturbed or attacked,

Immediately turn out the smelly horn and give off a special smell to drive away the enemy; Spotted butterfly larvae are poisonous because of their food.

Plants accumulate toxins in the body, and colorful body colors warn the enemy and make the enemy afraid to eat, thus achieving the purpose of protection.

The effect of self-protection.

The larva of Papilio formosana, which is turning out its smelly horn, is poisonous in its body, so it is reported to the world with its bright body color.

Butterfly larvae will go through the pupal stage before becoming adults, and mature larvae will first spin silk on the fixture and use the end of the abdomen.

Fix the hook on it, then spit out a circle of thick ribbon on your chest repeatedly, put it on the back side of your body center, and so on.

When peeling and pupating, it forms "pupation", for example, the larvae of Papilio butterfly pupate like this; Another kind of old, mature and young.

After the worm spins silk and is fixed, it hangs upside down and then peels and pupates, forming "hanging pupae" or "hanging pupae", such as spots.

Butterflies fall into this category.

The life of a butterfly goes through four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Larvae and adult are the only two active periods in their life, and their living habits are completely different and varied. Understanding their living habits is very helpful for collection and classification. The living habits of butterfly larvae and adults are described as follows.

Life habits of larvae

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After the butterfly larvae hatch by biting the eggshell, some species take a break and eat the host plants directly; Some species (such as the red-eyed bamboo butterfly) feed on eggshells first, and then on plants; Some species also need to feed on the shed old epidermis every time, such as Pieris rapae and Pieris rapae.

The feeding objects of butterfly larvae are different according to different insect species, and most larvae like to eat leaves; Some species, such as pink butterfly, orange-spotted pink butterfly and other flower buds; There are also some species that feed on young pods or young fruits, such as the pod gray butterfly that feeds on young pods and the gardenia gray butterfly that feeds on young gardenia fruits. In addition, in Papilionidae, several kinds of larvae are carnivorous. For example, Papilionidae is addicted to coffee scales, and Papilionidae specializes in feeding on bamboo aphids. This carnivorous species is a rare beneficial insect among butterflies.

Larvae that feed on plant leaves, such as the first instar, often eat mesophyll on the back of leaves and leave the upper epidermis to form transparent spots similar to glass windows. Later, larvae feed on leaves, or nibble inward from the edge of leaves; As the bug grows up, it eats more and more. When the insect population density on a plant is high, the whole plant will be eaten up.

Activities and habitats

The activities and habitat habits of butterfly larvae are also different due to different insect species. Judging from the activity time, the general species usually come out for activities at sunset in the morning and evening. However, some species (such as Pieris rapae, etc. ) During the day, some species (such as many butterfly larvae) move at night.

According to the activity law, the feeding and perching activities of the first instar larvae of many social species are consistent (more obvious in the first and second instars); Gather together to feed or inhabit, such as the Chinese tiger butterfly. Some butterflies, such as the larvae of nettle butterflies, often spin silk among nettles in dozens of groups, hiding in them like spiders to resist foreign enemies, and at the same time foraging and inhabiting, which is quite regular.

The habitat of butterfly larvae is generally hidden, so it is not easy to find individual larvae in the wild. Some butterfly larvae often live in seclusion by decorating the leaves of their nests. There are different ways to decorate leaves from one to several, each with its own style or skill. Banana butterfly larvae can stick the edge folds of banana leaves to the nest for seclusion, while rice butterflies often connect several leaves together to build nests inside. Larvae with nesting habits or web-building habits feed near their habitats and never go far. When disturbed, they immediately retreat to their nests to hide, which is completely different from the habitat habits of ordinary butterflies.

Living habits of adults

drink water

Water is an important part of organism's metabolism. Therefore, we can often see butterflies stopping on the wet ground to absorb water, especially the slightly salty water, which can attract them to drink. At noon on a hot summer day, when the scorching sun is in the sky, all kinds of butterflies gather there to absorb water on sunken mountain roads and streams.

raise

Butterflies have different life spans. The long one can reach 1 1 month, and the short one is only about 2 ~ 3 weeks. During this period, the male butterfly is busy mating with the female butterfly, and the female butterfly is busy looking for the host to lay eggs, so it is necessary to fully absorb the nutrients of nature. Only in this way can they successfully complete the sacred mission of passing on the seeds to the next generation.

Butterflies are not insects that specialize in exploring flowers and sucking honey. Due to different species, their feeding objects are also very different, and most of them are exclusive. For example, some species not only suck nectar, but also suck nectar from certain plants; Some butterflies don't suck nectar, but like to eat other rotten fruits or sap oozing from trees, and even feces of people, animals and birds. It can be seen that butterflies have a wide range of feeding habits.

activity

Butterflies are warm animals, and their body temperature changes with the ambient temperature. Therefore, the butterfly's life activities are directly controlled by the external temperature. It stopped when the temperature was low.

Every morning in early spring or late autumn, in the field, we can often see some butterflies spread their wings and warm themselves against the sun, and they will not start to move until their body temperature rises to the required starting point. This phenomenon will be particularly clear if you observe it on a mountain of 3000-4000 meters. When the sun comes out of the clouds and light and heat shine on the earth, you can see all kinds of butterflies flying around actively. If the sun is suddenly covered by clouds, then they stop moving immediately, and in an instant, there is no trace of a butterfly. When the sun shines again, they are as active as before, and it is very interesting to repeat it regularly again and again like this. Knowing that butterflies are warm animals, it is not difficult to explain the above phenomenon.

The characteristics of life activities of various butterflies are different, and the habits of males and females of the same species may also be different. Female butterflies usually wander around the host plant's growth area, and their range of activities is relatively narrow. This habit is most prominent in alpine areas, because the distribution of plants is closely related to altitude. As for male butterflies, they fly around looking for mates. Even in mountainous areas, their range of activities is much wider.

The tremor of the mountain peak is the gathering place of many butterflies, and the mountain pass is the only way for many butterflies to fly. In addition, the pass of the deep ravine is also the place where butterflies haunt the most. It should also be noted that there are also many butterflies with very narrow ranges of activities. They seem unwilling to leave their home and live in a small world. People can't easily see them until their home, such as the butterfly with sparse hair. Therefore, when we go to a new area to collect and investigate butterflies, we should first consider the above factors, so as to get twice the result with half the effort.

Butterfly's activities mainly depend on flying. The habit of flying varies with the number of species; From the attitude of flying, there are different flying modes, such as straight forward, dance forward and curve forward. Judging from the speed of flying, some are too fast to distinguish, and some are too slow to catch with their bare hands. There are also some species that can glide, some species can fly in a fixed position, and some species can fly with wings, dance with the wind and cross the ocean.

In addition, there are some species in the forest that can fly in the air for a long time, alternating from east to west, just like bees and flies flying in the air, only some traces can be seen. There is also a six-spotted butterfly, commonly known as "heteropterous butterfly". When it is disturbed, it flies in the air, straight into the sky, and quickly flies out of people's sight. It seems really interesting.