Butterfly, bee observed drinking crocodile tears

10 years ago | Posted in: science | 799 Views

A scientist in Costa Rica has captured rare up-close footage that shows a large caiman standing perfectly still while a butterfly and bee sip tears from its eye ducts.

Carlos de la Rosa of La Selva Biological Station said that the insects were benefitting from salt in the tears of the crocodilian reptile, in a freshwater environment in which the nutrient is scarce.

He noted that the spectacled caiman remained motionless on a log on the Puerto Viejo River for 15 minutes. It did not even blink while the butterfly drank crocodile tears from one socket, and the bee hovered and landed near the other socket.

“The fact that I was able to get that close with both a bee and a butterfly was very fortuitous,” de la Rosa told the English-language Tico Times.

The observation was published this past week by The Ecological Society of America, which uploaded video footage of the event on Tuesday.

The scientist noted that tear-feeding behavior involving butterflies and turtles has also been observed at La Selva, which is on the river.

De la Rosa also stated that he had found research showing that bees have been documented feeding on the tears of turtles, and even humans, in Thailand, and on turtle tears in the Amazon region of South America.

What astonished De la Rosa was that the caiman was not bothered by the intrusion, and that he was able to get so close without scaring the reptile into the water.

“I’ve seen these bees approach river turtles and the turtles are not as tolerant or pleased, shaking their heads and eventually even jumping back on the water,” De la Rosa said.

Regarding the scarcity of salt as a nutrient in certain tropical environments, the Tico Times quoted from a research paper published by Olivier Dangles and Jerome Casas:

“Although plentiful in the oceans, this element is in short supply on land, particularly in plants, which is why many terrestrial animals crave salt. Many species of insects, including several types of butterflies and moths, frequently visit moist ground and the excrement and carcasses of animals to obtain the dissolved nutrients they contain.”.. see more

 

source: http://www.grindtv.com/

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