butterfly emotions

[Anne Kilmer]

John Acorn wrote:
> 
> Bill Cornelius,
> 
> I too am interested in the topic of how insect minds compare to our own,

snip
 "Agonistic" on
> the other hand, is used to refer to the act of fighting, not the angry
> motives (and it is used widely in animal behaviour studies, not just for
> butterflies, to help focus our attention on the observations we make, not
> the motives we infer).
> 
> Hope this helps.  I'd be interested to hear other people's opinion on this
> interesting topic.
> 
> John Acorn

ah yes. 
As a poetic child, I longed to learn the language of birds, beasts and
butterflies. (I thought they might point out treasure, not realizing
that treasure to a butterfly might not be my cup of tea. See fish
emulsion recipe ...) 
So, in fact, I have learned one thing that butterflies say ... an
impatient gesture with the wings; sort of a shrug. 
A female who is nectaring may say it to an importunate male. 
Either sex, nectaring or just hanging out on a favored perch, may say it
to a pesky photographer. 
It means "go away." (Eff off, actually.) 
I haven't observed this in Ireland; here the butterflies just leave when
you crowd them. 
But I have seen it very often indeed in Florida. If you politely move
back, the butterfly continues nectaring; if you persist, it flies away. 

There is also the dance done by the giant swallowtail, pursued by the
zebra longwing, which translates into "yes, I do, but not with you," but
one has to be pretty fanciful to imagine a formal set of gestures in
that case. 
I have spent the afternoon being scolded by a pair of blue tits, as I
was sitting (on a dry patch of wall) too close to their nest.
Understanding them doesn't necessarily mean that I will obey them. 
Being human, we project onto animals the emotions we would feel in
similar circumstances ... shucks, we project these emotions onto each
other. It makes life very confusing. 
And, until recently, scientists insisted that babies do not feel pain,
and surgery on them was carried out without anesthesia.   
It was pretty obvious that the babies didn't like it. 
It is pretty obvious that butterflies don't like (for instance) being
caught in nets. 
Oh well.
I shall now go and ingest a chunk of a cow who probably had other plans
for her day ... life's tough all over. 
Cheers
Anne Kilmer
Mayo
Ireland