Predators on Butterflies

[Michael Gochfeld]

We had the opportunity to study predation by Smooth-billed Anis (a black
member of the cuckoo family) on an aggregation of hundreds of whites and
sulphurs, puddling on the shores of the Cristalino River in Brazil.
Every few minutes the several anis would rush in and each would try to
seize a butterfly. The aggregation would get up, circle around in
marvelous chaos for a minute or two and then return to the mud.  These
anis ate the butterflies whole, wings and all.  Jacamars, on the other
hand, meticuluously eat the bodies, leaving an array of wings under
their favorite perch.


Probably not to many Jacamars at the Summit.  How about Say's Phoebe.
Could that be around that location.

  MIKE GOCHFELD

Mike Gochfeld

Kenelm W Philip wrote:

>         This summer I saw the aftermath of a rather severe act
> of predation by an unknown predator on _Pieris angelika_
> near Twelve Mile Summit on the Steese Highway, interior
> Alaska. There is a good collecting site there at Reed Creek,
> and large aggregations of _P. angelika_ are often seen
> sitting on damp earth. This summer I got there a bit after the
> peak aggregation time--and in addition to a fair number of
> the butterflies standing around, the ground was littered with
> the wings of _many_ individuals whose bodies were nowhere
> to be seen. These detached wings were concentrated at
> aggregation sites.
>
>         I have no idea what it is that can sneak up on these
> critters and consume their bodies with such apparent ease.
> Normally if you alarm one individual in an aggregation the
> entire flock takes off instantly.
>
>                         Ken Philip
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>    For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:
>
>    http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl
>



 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl