What types of butterflies drink blood. Vampire butterfly or scoop (lat.

These butterflies use their proboscis, like a mosquito's, to drink the blood of warm-blooded animals. At the same time, human blood is the most pleasant delicacy for them. And now the not-so-good news: the habitat of these insects is expanding more and more. They used to live only in Malaysia and Southern Europe, but chances are they will soon be near you.

Some tropical butterflies are bloodsuckers. Their rough proboscis is capable of piercing the skin of mammals. It is believed that at first the butterflies pierced the skin of the fruit to drink the juice, and then they became accustomed to drinking blood. In the tropics there are butterflies that feed on the tear secretions of animals, mainly ungulates, such as buffalos. These butterflies launch their long proboscis into the tear ducts and suck out the tear secretions. This is perhaps the only case when butterflies are carriers of diseases, in this case eye diseases.

Cutworms (“little owls”) belong to the family Noctuidae, the largest among butterflies, with more than 30,000 species. Some cutworms also suck up droplets of blood from wounds (Lobocraspis griseifusca), but are not capable of piercing intact skin.

In 2006, Jennifer Zaspel was bitten by a vampire. The vampire was not in a black cloak, with a pale face and long teeth. It was a moth, and it was a real vampire.

Dr. Zaspel is a biologist who studies insects at Indiana University. On one of her trips, she went to Russia to study the moth "Calyptra thalictri". These insects feed on the juice of certain fruits such as grapes, raspberries and peaches. The moth pierces the skin of the berry and sucks out the sweet juice with its long proboscis. But this moth does not only feed on juice.

Zaspel caught one specimen of the moth and kept it from hand to mouth for several hours plastic bottle. Then she stuck her thumb into the neck. A few minutes later, the moth settled on the biologist’s thumb and, having pierced the skin at the base of the nail, began to drink human blood.

The moth Calyptra thalictri is just one of many vampire animals. The most famous vampires are ticks, mosquitoes, bedbugs and, of course, bats. Being a bloodsucker is not so easy, and animals have to find various ways choosing and attacking their victims.

The moth that Zaspel studied is only one representative of vampire insects. Some species of the genus of butterfliesCalyptrafeed on the blood of large mammals - rhinoceroses and elephants, and some prefer the tear fluid of these animals. But not all butterflies, even within the same species, feed on fresh blood.

Scientists who studied these insects caught 16 Calyptra individuals. All 16 butterflies were given the chance to suck blood, but only three pierced the skin with their proboscis and began to feed on the scientists’ blood. Others didn't even try.

True blood feeding has been recorded in noctuid moths of the genus Calyptra, which live in Southeast Asia. Calyptra eustrigata is a medium-sized butterfly in which the females pierce various fruits and suck out their contents.

Males have the same rigid proboscis as females, but do not feed on fruits. At night, they attack elephants, tapirs, rhinoceroses, buffaloes and pierce the skin, rapidly vibrating with their hard, sharp proboscis with teeth at the end - like a jackhammer. This butterfly bites very painfully, and drinks blood at a time from five to thirty minutes. An experiment was carried out, and it turned out that males can drink human blood - they pierced the experimenter’s finger, the sensation was like being pricked by a hot needle. Blood drinking for these butterflies became possible due to the fact that their ancestors switched to feeding on dense fruits and developed a hard proboscis.

As terrible as it may sound, bloodsucking butterflies were discovered in our Siberia. They turned out to be cutworms or night moths. Yes, yes, those same big night moths that flock to the light in the evenings and at night are not averse to tasting human blood.

How the calyptra thalictri (lat. Calyptra thalictri) drinks human blood was first discovered in Russia, on Far East. Lepidopterologist (butterfly specialist) Vladimir Kononenko, observing the behavior of the butterfly, noticed that the calyptra, if no one bothers it, can suck blood for several minutes.

These butterflies usually drink liquid from the eyes of animals, but it is possible that they can also fly to the smell of blood if, for example, a person is injured. Like most butterflies, the bloodthirsty moth flies to the light and the smell of red wine, to which sugar has been added. Calyptra can be a carrier of diseases. The proboscis of the calyptra has suction cups to attach to the skin. As a rule, the proboscis of butterflies is intended for drinking water and plant juice.

The length of the butterfly, with a wingspan, is 35-72 millimeters. Their long, hard proboscis is equipped with tiny suckers to attach to the skin. It was originally intended for drinking plant sap and water. Butterflies have adapted to pierce the hard skin of fruits. Some tropical species drink the tear secretions of large animals instead of blood.

The proboscis prick is quite painful. The bite site does not itch, but a small wound may bleed for a long time. If the butterflies are not driven away from the bite site, they can suck blood for 5 to 20 minutes.

The question arises - why do they still need blood? It’s not just that they switched to such an exotic cuisine. There is the following assumption, which, however, has not yet been precisely established. The blood of animals contains salt, which the males transfer to the female during mating. This “unusual sexual gift” provides salt to the butterfly larvae. Salt, or rather sodium, is necessary for their normal development.

A previously unknown population of vampire butterflies has been found and described by scientists in Siberia. Entomologists from the University of Florida (UF) believe that bloodthirsty insects have evolved from ordinary “fruit-eating” relatives.

Judging by the slight differences in the pattern on the wings, the little blood lovers are close relatives of the cornflower armyworm ( Calyptra thalictri), a butterfly common in Central and Southern Europe and some other parts of the world.

During the experiment, scientists donated their hands to butterflies. The insects sat on the palms and fingers, like mosquitoes, plunged their proboscis into human flesh and began to drink blood.

Photos of Jennifer at work. The theme of the opening just corresponds to the upcoming holiday - Halloween (photo UF).

Entomologist Jennifer Zaspel believes that the butterflies, which do not yet have an official Latin name, are an “evolutionary offshoot” of cutworms. This is the second population discovered by Zaspel and her colleagues in Russia (the previous one was identified in July 2006).

The scientists' future plans include comparing the DNA of foundlings, as well as other species. This is necessary to more accurately establish their relationship and confirm the hypotheses put forward.

"On this moment, judging by the geographical location of the discovered insects, the behavior and color of the wings, we can assume that in front of us the new kind" says Jennifer.

If it turns out that entomologists are really looking at a herbivorous butterfly that has retrained as a predator, then this type will allow us to find out exactly how this happened.

Chris Nice, who studies butterflies at Texas State University, notes that the insect's proboscis was originally designed to pierce the skins of fruits.

Zaspel's group also has an assumption as to the reason for the appearance of such non-standard behavior. Scientists believe that everything may be due to the desire to transfer salt, which is contained in the blood of humans and animals, to the butterfly larvae.

Only male vampire owls consume blood. They probably pass it on to females during mating.

“We found no evidence that vampirism prolongs the life of males, so we assumed that they were ‘giving’ what they received to females,” says Jennifer.

This “sexual gift” provides salt to the larvae on a leafy diet (and, as you know, there is almost no sodium in leaves).

It is not very clear how butterflies of the same species differ so much from each other in terms of food preferences. It is possible that in some butterflies the proboscis has evolved in such a way that it has become possible to pierce dense tissues, such as animal skin. Scientists studied the structure of the proboscis of all caught specimens, but did not find any significant differences in vampire moths.

The moth Calyptra thalictri is one of the blood-sucking butterflies. Scientists suggest that this way of eating is associated with a partial loss of smell.

Then biologists examined the antennae of Calyptra and found that the antennae of the bloodworms had fewer so-called sensilla, which help detect odors. Scientists suggest that in this way blood-sucking insects do not distinguish animal odors very well. Therefore, they calmly “taste” the motionless finger. In addition, blood is much more nutritious than fruit juice.

It is unlikely that these moths can be considered dangerous animals. They acquired their skills in hunting for blood by accident, having lost part of their sense of smell and becoming unwilling vampires. But other bloodsuckers chose their diet independently.

sources

http://ianimal.ru/topics/babochka-vampir

http://www.membrana.ru/particle/13209

taken

In front of you is the proboscis (the part that is closer to the tip) of the night moth Calyptra cornflower ( Calyptra thalictri), taken at tenfold magnification. The butterfly was caught in the Russian Far East in the summer of 2014 by entomologist Jennifer Zaspel from Purdue University (USA). The photo won eighth place in the 2014 Olympus BioScapes microphotography competition.

The proboscis of butterflies consists of two elongated galea (see Galea) - parts mandibles(maxill). They are connected by overlapping dorsal (dorsal) and ventral (ventral) outgrowths of the cuticle - legulae, forming the food canal. The dorsal legules are visible in the photo in the center of the frame (green). At the end of the proboscis of the calyptra there are also teeth sticking out to the sides (red in the photo) and sharp hooks (visible in the photo as dark dots surrounded by a light halo). The teeth and hooks help pierce the skin of fruits to drink juice, as well as... the skin of mammals to suck blood.

This butterfly, like many other representatives of the genus Calyptra, called vampire moth - vampire butterfly, because their males periodically suck the blood of mammals. These are the only bloodsucking butterflies, although they are not obligate, but facultative. Of the 18 species of the genus, 10 drink blood; These are mainly species found in South and Southeast Asia. They choose as victims ungulates (for example, tapirs and zebu), sometimes Asian elephants, as well as people.

To determine whether butterflies drink human blood, entomologist Hans Bänziger of Chiang Mai University selflessly offered his fingers and even lips to insects caught in Thailand in the late 1980s - without knowing for sure whether the butterflies carried pathogens from prey to prey. . Thanks to this, it was possible to observe in detail how the insect pierces the skin. The hooks cling to skin irregularities (hair, folds, pores, cracks), into which the proboscis is pushed, the teeth pierce the skin, and the tip of the proboscis enters the wound and then “drills” deeper. This does not cause the most pleasant sensations.

Calyptra cornflower lives on large territory Palaearctic, feeds on the juice of fruits and berries. But in 2006, scientists studying butterflies in Primorye offered their fingers to the caught insects. Some males willingly began to drink blood; this process took from 3 to 20 minutes.

The researchers decided to compare whether blood-sucking males were morphologically different from males drinking fruit juice. Differences were found in the number of olfactory sensilla on the antennae: blood-sucking animals had fewer sensilla that perceive the odors of vertebrate animals. Scientists suggest that reducing sensitivity to such odors makes them less repulsive to butterflies and creates the preconditions for feeding on blood.

But, in fact, why do butterflies need blood, especially males? Butterflies do not digest blood proteins; they are excreted, but butterflies absorb up to 95% of sodium chloride (NaCl). It is assumed that the male may transfer NaCl to the female with the spermatophore during mating, as it may be necessary for the development of the offspring. But there is very little of this substance in plants.

In the world around us there live a huge number of living creatures with frightening and strange features of which we may not even be aware. In continuation of the article, you will find educational information about vampire animals. Don't rush to conclusions, because we won't tell you about bats, mosquitoes and leeches, we will talk about seemingly harmless animals that do not even pretend that they are actually bloodthirsty vampires who are not averse to feasting on the blood of others.

Lamprey

This is a vile creature with a huge number of sharp teeth, with which it bites into its victim, sucks and bloodthirstyly drinks blood. Mainly feeds on fish.

Danger to humans: will only attack if she is too hungry

Vampire finch

These birds only look harmless, but in fact they are real bloodthirsty vampires who, having noticed a wounded bird of another species, fly up to it and begin to peck at its wound to drink fresh blood. Often the victims of finches are seagulls, which, surprisingly, do not offer resistance.

Danger to humans: If you are not a bird living in the Galapagos Islands, then you are safe.

Kandiru

Danger to humans: One day, in 1997, this fish entered the urethra of a local resident and fed on his flesh and blood, but soon died. Doctors had to remove her remains surgically.

Kissing bugs

The triatomine bug, also called the kissing bug because it bites a person's face while they sleep.

Danger to humans: High if you live in Arizona or Texas. Also, these bugs are carriers of Chagas disease, and their bites can cause allergic reaction, including puffy eyes, blisters and even seizures.

Mockingbird

These birds feed on scavengers, but they are more aggressive than finches and are not afraid of people.

Danger to humans: To be honest, a finch is more likely to be attracted to your water bottle than to your blood.

Vampire butterfly

Using their proboscis, these butterflies drink blood from warm-blooded animals.

Danger to humans: they will 100% attack you. And now the good news: their habitat is expanding more and more and perhaps soon they will be near us!

Voloklyui

Look into the eyes of this demon! Just like its bloodthirsty comrades, the dragnet feasts on the fresh wounds of large animals such as buffalo and other cattle.

Danger to humans: Humans are too small prey for this demon.

Nutmeg snail

What? And harmless snails too? The main prey of these snails are electric stingrays, on whose body the bloodthirsty snail makes cuts and drinks blood.

Danger to humans: Everything is fine until you become an electric stingray

Butterfly Madrilenial

It's a butterfly from hell! She drinks the blood of dead animals.

Danger to humans: It does not pose a danger to a living person, but it will definitely fly to you in a nightmare!

Scientists have questioned the claim that all butterflies are beautiful. They discovered a previously undescribed population of vampire butterflies in Siberia.

Experts at the University of Florida believe that they are relatives of European butterflies, namely the cutworm or sap-feeding night moth. It is those large night moths that flock to the light in the dark that are not averse to feasting on human blood. The pattern on the wings of bloodsucking butterflies differs quite a bit from the pattern on the wings of their vegetarian relatives.

To conduct the experiment, scientists had to let the butterflies sit on their palms. Insects, no worse than mosquitoes, drank human blood. The prick of the proboscis was noticeably painful, the wound bled for a long time, but there was no itching at the site of the bite. Butterflies can drink blood for 5-20 minutes, if they are allowed to do so, of course.

It is noteworthy that only males drink blood, while females feed on the juice of fruits and plants.

The initial discovery of butterfly “vampirism” was recorded in 2006 by University of Florida entomologist Jennifer Zaspel. Entomologist D. Zaspel notes that this (the second one discovered by her) population of butterflies, while officially unnamed, clearly confirms evolution, and suggests that a new species has been found, judging by the geography of the discovery of new butterflies, the color of their wings, and, of course, by their behavior.

To confirm the origin of these butterflies, scientists plan to conduct DNA analysis and compare the DNA of the population of vampire butterflies and their putative relatives. And if it is clear that, indeed, a herbivorous butterfly has evolved into a predatory one, then this species will allow us to understand this process in detail.

The question arises: why do butterflies need blood? After all, according to experts from the University of Texas, butterflies originally used their proboscis to pierce fruits. Scientists make the following, not yet precisely established, assumption. Males share salt with the female during mating, obtained from the blood of an animal or human.

Thus, they provide salt, or rather sodium, to the butterfly larvae, which is very necessary for their development. There is practically no sodium in the leaves that the larvae feed on. Scientists could not find evidence that males, by consuming blood, prolong their lives.

Not all butterflies are beautiful. Among them there are real monsters, or rather vampires, who feed on blood, including human blood. Of course, they cannot be compared with another vampire of the animal world - a fish, but still.

But vampire butterflies (of other species) are found not only here. They are also common in Southeast Asia (these moths can pierce the thick skin of a buffalo or rhinoceros), Africa, and Eastern and Southern Europe.

This is already a tropical vampire butterfly

The vampire cutworm was first discovered by our Russian butterfly specialist Vladimir Kononenko. But the official discovery of butterfly “vampirism” occurred thanks to Florida State University entomologist Jennifer Zaspel in 2006. She believes that these butterflies are close relatives of the cutworm, which lives in parts of Europe.

In order not to jeopardize the honor of all scoops, it should be said that only males drink blood. Females feed on the juice of plants and fruits. Externally, vampires differ from their vegetarian counterparts and females of their species - they have a certain pattern on their wings.

The question arises: why do they still need blood? It’s not just that they switched to such an exotic cuisine. There is the following assumption, which, however, has not yet been precisely established. The blood of animals contains salt, which the males transfer to the female during mating. This “unusual sexual gift” provides salt to the butterfly larvae. Salt, or rather sodium, is necessary for their normal development.

Armyworm caterpillar