The other day I watched two butterflies, fluttering about after each other, a happy and idyll sight; but then it seemed like one was actually chasing the other away. A quick google, and I was surprised to learn that butterflies can be territorial...‘… some male butterflies, including some in the genus Vanessa, are capable of maintaining and aggressively defending territories through purposive behaviors such as patrolling flights and complex interactions in flight with intruders of their own species…’
Bitzer, R.J. and Shaw, K.C. (1979). Territorial behavior of the Red Admiral, Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 18: 36-49.
While fluttering on the subject, why do we think caterpillars are less disgusting than maggots, yet both are the same stage in insect development?
