The so-called “tails” of some butterfly species seem to be only used for beauty, but they could also be used as an escape mechanism against predators such as birds.
The very eye-catching tail can break off of the butterfly, which probably evolved so that it could be a decoy to keep hungry birds from grabbing the butterflies as prey.
Birds usually attack eyespots or head-shaped patterns on butterfly wings, so a team of biologists wondered if birds will also attack these butterfly “tails.”
Aranie Chotard and her colleagues at the Museum of Natural History in Paris collected 138 sail swallowtails, a yellow-and-black kind of butterfly with patches of blue and orange on their wings, just above their “tails.” Found in Europe and Asia, their name comes from the two black “tails” trailing from their wings.
Out of the 138 swallowtails collected, 65 had at least one damaged “tail,” and the team also found more than eight in every 10 of the wings (there are 130 wings in the group of 65) had damaged “tails.” This experiment’s result suggests that predators will attack and maybe target the “tail” of a butterfly.
Scientists guessed these tails are used to distract birds away from the most vulnerable parts of the butterfly. Since the tails come off easily, the butterfly can most likely escape from a hungry predator and fly off. This has been seen in some kinds of lizards too. They also have tails that can break off and be able to escape from predators. Some lizards, like the bearded dragon and the green iguana, will break off and regrow their tails. Other lizards like the crested gecko can break off their tail, but they can’t regrow them.
We don’t know yet if there is a downside to losing two tails instead of one, Aranie Chotard says. “You survived. You escaped from a predator, but maybe there’s a trade-off.” For instance, she notes, one tail or both might slow their flight down.
The next step in this research may be studying swallowtails in their natural habitats, with or without tails, and how they face bird predators.
The very eye-catching tail can break off of the butterfly, which probably evolved so that it could be a decoy to keep hungry birds from grabbing the butterflies as prey.
Birds usually attack eyespots or head-shaped patterns on butterfly wings, so a team of biologists wondered if birds will also attack these butterfly “tails.”
Aranie Chotard and her colleagues at the Museum of Natural History in Paris collected 138 sail swallowtails, a yellow-and-black kind of butterfly with patches of blue and orange on their wings, just above their “tails.” Found in Europe and Asia, their name comes from the two black “tails” trailing from their wings.
Out of the 138 swallowtails collected, 65 had at least one damaged “tail,” and the team also found more than eight in every 10 of the wings (there are 130 wings in the group of 65) had damaged “tails.” This experiment’s result suggests that predators will attack and maybe target the “tail” of a butterfly.
Scientists guessed these tails are used to distract birds away from the most vulnerable parts of the butterfly. Since the tails come off easily, the butterfly can most likely escape from a hungry predator and fly off. This has been seen in some kinds of lizards too. They also have tails that can break off and be able to escape from predators. Some lizards, like the bearded dragon and the green iguana, will break off and regrow their tails. Other lizards like the crested gecko can break off their tail, but they can’t regrow them.
We don’t know yet if there is a downside to losing two tails instead of one, Aranie Chotard says. “You survived. You escaped from a predator, but maybe there’s a trade-off.” For instance, she notes, one tail or both might slow their flight down.
The next step in this research may be studying swallowtails in their natural habitats, with or without tails, and how they face bird predators.
