Almost immediately, I went and found one of the people that work there and asked the man if he could answer a question for me then led him to this butterfly. He gave a very thorough explanation and I only hope I can repeat it in a way that does his explanation justice. He explained that when the butterflies first emerge from the cocoon their wings are wet and folded up like this. It takes the new butterfly a while to realize they have these wings and to let them unfold. He further explained they need the sun and warm weather to help dry their wings.
Sometimes, they don't learn to stretch their wings out before they become hard and if they become hard before they have completely unfolded, this is what happens to them. This little guy will never fly. It will have a more difficult time finding food and because it can flutter its wings to attract a mate, chances are it will never mate. This little guy will never look like the one below.
15 comments:
Oh, poor little thing! How sad.
Poor little thing!! I have seen them emerging and their wings unfolding and it is marvellous.
So sad for the little one ...
Nature is hard !
This is amazing! I have never seen this! I feel so sorry for the little thing! But this photo makes us all more aware of Nature's own hidden weaknesses!
Oh poor little thing. He looks beautiful anyway I think, but chances are he will not survive for long, I guess. It's a hard life...
that is so sad ...
but interesting to know...
thanks for the visit, glad to hear from you again. I love your butterflies too.
By the way, the butterflies that you saw in my blog, my hubby and I did an English Camp here in Thailand last summer and we taught this to our students as part of their activity. It's very easy. I will try to make post it on my blog next time for the process of making this butterflies. You will realy love it and you can post it anywhere...
I've never heard of that before.
Poor thing!
Fantastic post...firstly the details are extra sharp and secondly that explanation is something many of us would have never known. Thanks for sharing.
That is so sad. It is a lot like our human children that are never taught to stretch their wings and reach for more.
Interesting post. This is like watching Nature on PBS:)
Poor little butterfly. I never realized this could happen. An interesting post to be sure.
That's the first photo I've ever seen of a butterfly having just emerged from its chrysalis...very intriguing how the wings grow inside that container and how they have to gradually unfold them once they're out. Poor guy whose wings hardened in the folded position.
this is a very nice post
But think of how much better it must feel after he's done.
Post a Comment