09/20/2025
Remember that time a butterfly landed on you because you are pure of heart?
Well, I hate to break it to you, but that butterfly was using you. And if you think that’s bad, well, you should just stop reading here. Things only get worse.
Butterflies are well known for their love of nectar. Unfortunately, that delicious sugar water is not enough nutritionally for a butterfly. If they only drank nectar, they would not have enough vital nutrients for their survival. So what’s a butterfly to do, besides drink poo?
Yep, p**p! And don’t forget decomposing animals, mud, blood, and sweat. When a butterfly is observed on a pile of the not-so-fine things in life, that behavior is called puddling. Butterflies will land on the moist surface and use their long tongue, called a proboscis, to suck up the sodium and amino acid-rich fluids. However, not all butterflies will do this- just the male of the species. This is due to reproduction success. The male will transfer all the good nutrients it sucked up to the female as part of the nuptial gift and can aid in the survival of the eggs. Lucky lady!
So the next time a butterfly lands on you to try and benefit from your sweat, maybe just politely shoo it away and admire it from a distance- after all, you never know where that butterfly landed before you.
Pictured are two Fritillaries puddling on a decomposing snake.
📷: Colby Sparks
