Monarch eggs / predation / sibling rivalry

[Ron Gatrelle]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Carol Lemmon" <carol.lemmon at po.state.ct.us>
To: <SUNSOL at prodigy.net>; <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: Monarch eggs / predation / sibling rivalry


> Personally, I have witnessed sibling rivalry/cannibalism in action when I
> reared out a group of Cloudless Sulphur larvae a couple of years back,
when
> there was a major incursion of them into Connecticut.  The larger larvae
> would actively pursue smaller ones when they found them, and would then
eat
> them.  It seemed like they preferred the taste of their siblings over the
> hostplant!
>
> Jeff Fengler

Butterflies are now societal symbols of gentleness and beauty.  Birds with
six legs.  Little angles or pixies of the natural world.   Tame and lovable
creatures.  In reality they are just insects - sex and food obsessed bugs
(far worse than any gluttons or rapests among we humans).   Mate, eat and
be eaten is what their whole existence is about..  Their primary function
is as part of the food chain - not to bring false emotional serenity to
humans or product delusion to TV adds from tampons to tacos.

They are no more noble than mosquitoes, termites or roaches - and no more
important.  For those of us who have been collecting and rearing
lepidoptera for decades it is well known that they love to eat each other
as larva.  No, they are not strict vegetarians!   You are right Jeff, many
_prefer_  meat to veggies when they have the choice.  We also know the 95%
+ mortality of immatures in the wild is also the norm.  That is how these
insects function.   From Monarchs to Mitoura it is all the same.  The fact
that Monarchs "suffer" high egg mortality is not news.

The new breed of warm and fuzzy "butterfliers" have a rude awakening
awaiting them once they find out what the real internal world of
butterflies is actually about.  It is a very selfish and violent world.  It
is each for themselves.  The rescue parties to free a comrade from the
spider's wed only occurs in Disney movies and the bambified world of
environmental whackos.

But we humans have a long history of being racests and biggots, so it
should not surprise us that when it comes to the natural world we are such
idiots.   Weeds and maggots must go but flowers and butterflies must stay.
In order to "justifiy" this we have to falsify the natural world.  We have
to concoct evil or icky (where none actually exists) and associate it to
that which does not deserve to live with us and concoct virtue and
desirability (where none actually exists) and associate it with that which
we want to live with us.

A friend of mine has a Boa.  He feeds it live rats.  No one seems to mind.
He fed it a live bunny wabbit for its "birthday".   He was lucky he didn't
get arrested!   This of course is exactly why we shot all the coyotes,
foxes and cougars and are now over run with deer, rats and -- people.


Ron Gatrelle



 
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