When you think of butterflies, many people think of them flying from flower to flower and sucking nectar. However, in the large greenhouse of Tama Zoo Insectarium, leaf-sucking butterflies have recently been observed.

One morning in January 2012, more than 10 butterflies, including Hippopotamus Tateha, perched on a single Benjamin tree. It doesn't have flowers on that tree, and it's not the tree where Hippopotamus Tateha lays its eggs. If you look closely, you can see that the butterfly has a straw-like mouth extending towards the surface of the leaves. The leaves are shiny with some kind of liquid on them, and they are sticky to the touch. Apparently the butterfly is sucking this.

What exactly is this stickiness?　When I looked at the branch directly above the leaves, I saw a number of insects called scale insects attached to them. It was thought that the true identity of this sticky was the drop of a liquid called nectar produced by scale insects.

Honeydew is the excess after scale insects suck the juice of plants, digest and absorb it, that is, urine. Honeydew contains a lot of sugar, and butterflies sucked it. When I licked this honeydew, a faint sweetness spread in my mouth. After all, the true identity of the sticky is definitely nectar.

Depending on the species, butterflies prefer a variety of things other than flower nectar. It can gather in tree sap, fruits, and sometimes animal feces, carcasses, human sweat, and other things that are far from flowers.

Insectarium Some trees where leaf-sucking butterflies can be seen are Benjamin and Hamainubiwa. The flocking butterflies seem to have many members of the Hippopotamus butterfly, such as the Japanese butterfly and the Japanese butterfly, and are often seen in the morning. When you come to Insectarium, why not look for butterflies drinking their morning nectar at the leaf table?

Above: scale insects and honeydew falling on the leaves
In the photo: A straw-like goose with a straw-like mouth
Bottom photo: Gathering at Benjamin Hippopotamus Tateha (arrow)

[Tama Zoo Insect Garden Breeding Exhibition Section Yosuke Tanaka]

(February 10, 2012)