I thought i uploaded these pics but i couldnt find them, but bloody hell are these guys fun to watch at night, so active as they wander about actively hunting crickets.
The butterflies love this Siam Weed bush.
The biggest ones are the migrating monarchs. The slightly smaller ones are queens who mimic the monarchs. The little brown and orange ones are snouts, who are roaming through the area because somewhere got too crowded and they’re looking for new spaces. There’s also a painted lady and a red admiral in there somewhere.
[description: a video moving back and forth over a large patch of a bush with small, blue, pom-pom like bunches of flowers, occasionally zooming in. At least 20 butterflies of varying types are fluttering about and landing on the flowers. Someone in the background is sarcastically pointing out that the butterflies might like this bush.]
ahh i actually havent ! at first i thought you were actually talking about a CATERPILLAR that looks like a snake, and said cocoon on accident (specifically the caterpillar of the hemeroplanes triptolemus, or snake-mimic hawk moth)
but it TURNS OUT theres a species of butterfly that takes it way further, to the point where all the other caterpillars are like “is this really fuckin necessary”
its the chrysalis of the daring-owl butterfly ! a species thats found in trinidad and spends a good portion of its young adult life trying to convince other things that its not actually completely helpless
LOOK at the detail thats gone into this though- i cant even imagine the journey this look mustve taken, with lightly less-snakelike chrysalises being eaten over time again and again until youve got something with definable eyes and scales
apparently if disturbed theyll also rock violently back and forth, furthering the idea that this is a very dangerous pitviper with the tiniest body imaginable
the adult butterflies are much less exciting but honestly they dont need to be with a history like that a+ bug
1) This is Finley my artisanal heritage fancybastard, you can tell how fancy he is by the way his pin bones can cut real diamond and by the nose milk he produces that is definitely not pasturella.
2) This red motherfucker right here is the bane of my whole existence, he is bad, his unclefather was bad, but he has a half decent hindquarter and if he doesn’t drop dead of artisanal fancybastard disease before the end of this sentence maybe I can make a nice rabbit out of him.
“Look at them! They dance with others of their species they’ve never met before just for their shared love of certain sound patterns! That is so sweet!”
—
“The humans have told me that this process is called ‘hugging’, and it involves simply holding each other to release endorphins. Isn’t that precious? Look how happy they are!”
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“Humans have a physical response called ‘laughter’ to indicate high positive emotions and humor. It seems to be infectious, as one laughing human can easily cause laughter and endorphin responses in other humans!”
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“They pack bond so easily, even with inanimate objects. A human companion of mine recently purchased a small ‘cactus’ plant simply because it was not shaped as perfectly as the rest and she wished to give it a home. She has named it Bartholomew.”
“Yes, my own human friend has displayed this tendency as well. When I questioned her, she expressed that she has pack-bonded with me. I felt I must perform a ‘hug’ in order to express how adorable she is.”
—
“My human companion has adopted another, smaller Earth predator into his home. I frequently find him carrying it around or napping with it simply to share companionship and feel the vibrations the creature produces. He very often expresses how adorable and precious the feline is, though he does not seem to realize that he is similarly so.”
—
“The humans record themselves playing pretend and telling stories so other humans can watch them. I have samples of these ‘movies’ to share with the rest of the observation party. For research purposes.”
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