Beauty with Poison…!

Are butterflies poisonous? You will be perplexed if you ask this question. We know that snakes, scorpions and some other creatures are poisonous. But no one can believe that butterflies are poisonous. A venomous snake bite can kill a human, while a scorpion bites. But you have never heard of butterflies. So are butterflies poisonous? That said, it will drive people crazy. But this is true, because butterflies are poisonous. But they don’t bite, and they don’t hurt anyone. However, if a bird eats some venomous species of butterflies, it is quite may not be possible to survive the bird. In fact, the venom in the body of the butterfly to protect it from birds is a boon for the butterfly.

Butterflies are known to be so beautiful to look at. But beyond that, there is a wonderful world of butterflies. Butterflies are poisonous. Any living thing can be bitten by a poisonous snake. But butterflies are a little different. They don’t bite and they don’t even have teeth. Surprisingly, if a butterfly is eaten by a single bird, it can only sting. Many birds love to eat butterflies. Birds get a lot of energy from butterflies. Birds, especially butterflies, are used to feed the young, especially during the mating season. Green bee-eater, Black Drongo and many other birds love to eat butterflies. But some species of butterflies are poisonous. It is a gift from nature to protect birds.

The Striped Tiger (Danaus genutia), a member of the Nymphaliadae family of butterflies, is known as a venomous butterfly. This is because the female lays her eggs on the leaves of a particular plant. A plant which emits a milky substance when its leaf or stalk is broken is called a milkweed plant. This butterfly lays its eggs on it. The caterpillar feeds on the plant. So the toxins in it come into the body of the butterfly.

Striped Tiger is a butterfly that lays eggs on the bushes of the crown flower (Calotropis giganta). They have stripes on their wings like tigers. This butterfly is found all over India. It bears a striking resemblance to the monarch butterfly found in the United States. Both male and female butterflies have similar wings. The females of these butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves of trees of the genus Escapedac. The caterpillars that hatch from the eggs are black in color. They have white-yellow lines and spots on their body. As the caterpillars grow, they wrap themselves in a cocoon. The leaves of trees that caterpillars eat contain toxins that accumulate in the bodies of caterpillars and, alternatively, butterflies. This means that the toxins from the plant will go into the bird’s body. If this butterfly is eaten by a Sparrow or a Bulbul bird, it is enough to injure the bird.So usually such birds are wary of these butterflies. But on the one hand, this same butterfly is caught in a spider’s web. I have often seen it in the forest. We see many such examples and secrets while wandering in the forest. The best example of this is that nature regulates itself.

@ Yadav Tarte Patil
Member – State Board for Wildlife, Government of Maharashtra
Contact – 9730900500
Email- disha.wildlife@gmail.com