Ento-musings from the University of Kentucky Department of Entomology


Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Butterflies ♥ Turtles

by Blake Newton, UK Extension Entomologist

More insects at Cute Overload!

This image from Cute Overload shows a bunch of butterflies pestering a turtle. The reason: butterflies often flock around sources of salt and other minerals (this is why you often see butteflies hanging around mud puddles, a phenomenon known as "puddling"). The mineral/salt source here is... turtle tears!

1 comment:

  1. ...as opposed to some Noctuid moths (genus Calyptra) that actually gather around large animals to suck their blood...

    ReplyDelete