Here's a totally random, pretty much useless yet super fun fact I learnt today.
Apparently, butterflies drink turtle tears as a source of sodium and minerals π€£
Definitely a really bizarre yet beautiful sight!
In return, the turtles... well they get their eyes cleaned. Or maybe not π
I first stumbled upon this fact on Reddit, which claimed it was a mutually beneficial relationship.
After doing a bit of digging, it seems it's mostly a one sided relationship as they don't really get much out of it...It doesn't harm em but they are probably a bit annoyed turtle π
"They definitely don't seem to enjoy it. This is a fairly colorful example of commensalism β a species partnership where one species benefits and the other species doesn't really get affected, positively or negatively." source
Apparently, this tear-drinking behavior is most common in the western Amazon where the waters don't have much sodium.
As aforementioned, the butterflies feed on turtle tears to get sodium and other minerals, that aren't available from flowers. So in this case they get it from turtles.. Other species go for an even more bizarre and disgusting source... They dive into poop, lmao π
Yeah, I'll take the turtle tears anytime ππππ€£π€£π€£π
Here are some more videos of this bizarre practice
Ok friends, enough useless information for today. Make sure to follow and subscribe for more dumb stuff like this ππ
P.S. @enginewitty check this out ππ’
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