nice observation, Neil. could there be another explanation?
or is this butterfly the dog of the butterfly world.. sniffs new comers...??? usha di On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 9:01 AM, 'Neil Soares' via efloraofindia < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > Thought this might be interesting… > > Photographed on my property at Shahapur last weekend. > > Was photographing a female Indian Sunbeam [Curetis thetis – Photographs 1 > & 2]. Noticed a Frog-legged Leaf Beetle also called the Frog Beetle > [possibly Sagra fermonta] gnawing on a branch / liana close-by [Photograph > 3]. A Black Ant also seemed intent on imbibing some of the sap. The Sunbeam > suddenly landed in their midst and proceeded to explore the area around the > Frog Beetle finally ending up at its rear [Photographs 4 to 10]. > > Frog Beetles belong to the Order Coleoptera which are not known to secrete > ‘honey-dew’, so obviously the ant was not protecting the Frog Beetle in > exchange for any reward /inducement. > > Also, Indian Sunbeams generally do not visit flowers, but prefer damp > areas [mud-puddling] and bird-droppings. So presumably the butterfly was > investigating the Frog Beetle’s posterior for its excretion. > > Any comments ? > > Please also check these links : > > > Google Groups > <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/butterfly_india/indian$20sunbeam$20Neil$20Soares%7Csort:relevance/butterfly_india/q2-IoBnV7Y0/hbaSR0FQgPsJ> > > Google Groups > <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/butterfly_india/indian$20sunbeam$20Neil$20Soares%7Csort:relevance/butterfly_india/StGUdcAzlN8/70zuRUZWxW0J> > > Google Groups > <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/indiantreepix/Buffalo$20Tree$20Hopper$20Neil$20Soares%7Csort:relevance/indiantreepix/DmDFDagQEOE/KulBN0_bF1IJ> > > > With regards, > Neil Soares. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "efloraofindia" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Usha di =========== -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
