What Eats Butterfly?
Some of the common predators of butterflies include but are certainly not limited to: wasps, ants, parasitic flies, birds, snakes, toads, rats, lizards, dragonflies and even monkeys! A few of the other animals that are constantly adding butterflies onto their menu list are frogs and spiders. These predators eat butterflies as butterfly eggs, caterpillars and adult butterflies.
Now, when it comes down to eating butterflies, there are two kinds of butterflies that these predators will consume: a good tasting butterfly or a bad tasting butterfly. To keep from becoming a tasty snack, some butterflies have developed a bad taste to their bodies. Monarchs taste bad because the caterpillars have eaten milkweed. Once a bird tastes one, they don’t want to try another one. Another butterfly, called the Viceroy, tastes good but looks so much like a Monarch that birds won’t eat it.
One thing that may be surprising to a lot of people is that a few countries have butterflies on their menu for humans to order! While most of us are appalled to eat anything as beautiful as a butterfly, there are quite a few countries that see the butterfly as a delicacy. Mexico, Africa and Southeast Asia are the few countries that find butterflies to be a great appetizer or dessert.
Mantis Eating a Monarch
Crab Spider has Caught a Butterfly. See How Well The Spider Was Camouflaged
in the Flower?
