Speaking of butterflies, there are too many beautiful butterflies in the world.
For example, Helena's butterfly, which exudes a metallic blue luster:
For example, the transfiguration butterfly with unique transparent wings:
To say that the personality of the butterfly, there are also many,
For example, the inexplicably interesting-looking dead leaf butterfly:
Another example is the owl ring butterfly with owl eyes on its wings:
Today's protagonist is a butterfly called "Mechanitis polymnia",
They are mainly distributed in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America.
Compared with those butterflies with stunning appearance, "Mechanitis polymnia" is very ordinary, completely passers-by,
It looks like this:
Because the pattern on the wings is more like a tiger, it is also called orange-spotted tiger clearwing.
Well, just... It's just that the wings are more like tigers, and there are no other characteristics,
It belongs to the kind of butterfly that walks on the road and looks at it twice at most, but it is nothing:
But don't underestimate this butterfly, in a group of butterflies, this butterfly is very famous,
This fame does not depend on their tiger-like wings, but on their very special pupae.
......
Ha? chrysalis? Aren't pupae the kind that looks a little disgusting and makes people dare not touch it?
So where is its pupae special?
Before admiring the pupae of this Mechanitis polymnia butterfly, let's take a look at the pupae of other butterflies,
Looking like this, these are already relatively good-looking:
Really no desire to reach out and touch ha....
However, look at the chrysalis of the Mechanitis polymnia butterfly, their pupae not only make people want to touch, but also want people to carefully hold in the palm of their hands to watch carefully,
Because their pupae are like this:
The body radiates a golden sparkle, like a delicately crafted gold pendant:
So many pupae put together, let people see the instant transformation into the sniff in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them":
Also because of this gold-like shining appearance, there have been many interesting rumors about the pupae of this butterfly,
There have been rumors that people in South America used to use these pupae as currency to buy things in exchange.
But soon the locals came out to refute the rumors.
So what, there is no thing O....
First of all, this pupa is very fragile, easy to break when touched, how can it be used as a currency;
Secondly, this creature is even known to the locals very little, who has nothing to do with running into the rainforest every day, isn't it?
More importantly, this pupa actually does not contain any gold or other metal elements, and this golden appearance lasts for at most a week, and after a week it becomes a "passerby butterfly" with tiger stripes on it.
Use them to buy things? Merchants agree unless there is a brain problem....
People who see here should be curious again, this Bollinger Bollinger gold armor, there is no metal component in it??
In fact, the main reason why they look golden is because of a natural chemical called Chitin.
This substance is commonly found in the shells of crustaceans such as shrimp and crab insects, including the main component of fish scales that sometimes look a little glittering.
In addition, some birds will also have chitin on the scales of the wings of birds,
The combination of different structures of this substance produces a phenomenon called "thin film interference", which causes objects that possess chitin to have a "structural color":
Among these "structural colors", some are colorful like rainbows, some are like the colors of some jewelry gemstones, and others are like these pupae look like gold gold:
However, this gold coat is not a patent of the Mechanitis polymnia butterfly.
There is also a butterfly pupa called "Tithorea harmonia" that has a similar golden armor:
The small pupae can even be used as a mirror, and the sky and people reflect clearly:
So here's the problem again.
A small pupae, why is it so rich and luxurious? Isn't it so conspicuous that you are not afraid of being eaten by other predators?
In fact, on the contrary, this body of gold has played the most critical protective role.
Although it looks golden in our eyes, due to the reflection of light and other factors, it is not pure gold in nature.
Sometimes it looks like a drop of water hanging from a leaf;
Sometimes it's like a ray of light from the sun on a leaf;
So when birds or other reptiles pass by, people are often confused, and they don't think that this strange-looking little thing is actually a pupa full of protein without chicken power.
At the same time, this golden armor will also use its reflex to scare away some creatures that are close to it.
When creatures like birds, spiders, etc. approach the pupa, its golden body will reflect the shadow of the predator,
These predators watched themselves bouncing around in their golden shells, sometimes approaching cautiously,
You will mistakenly think that you are a dangerous threat in the "mirror", and then you will be frightened and quickly run away....
This golden armor is arguably their most important means of self-preservation,
With the blessing of the golden armor, these small creatures can smoothly break out of the luxurious and elegant pupae and transform into... belch... Butterflies that look slightly ordinary... (Actually, it's pretty good!)
But although the golden armor greatly protected them during their most vulnerable periods,
But the survival state of this butterfly is still very dangerous.
Due to the excessive cutting of human beings, this small grain of gold has no pillar to hang,
At one point, they became very rare.
However, in recent years, many countries in South America have begun to pay attention to the protection of tropical rainforests.
Successive laws prohibiting deforestation have also defended the homes of these small creatures.
Although it is still not easy to find them,
But I believe that in the quiet forest, there must be a lot of shining small gold grains hanging everywhere waiting quietly for the day when the cocoon will turn into a butterfly
ref：
https://www.odditycentral.com/animals/living-jewelry-the-shiny-cocoons-of-this-exotic-butterfly-look-like-gold-jewels.html
https://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Amazon%20-%20Mechanitis%20polymnia.htm
https://www.earthtouchnews.com/wtf/wtf/meet-the-caterpillars-that-build-chrome-homes-photos/
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Late Night Inspiration Manufacturing Plant
: Actually quite good-looking, but I don't know why I'm afraid of butterflies
knowing-it: There is no such thing as the pendant hhhh
WestXxxx
: Oh my God Nature is so magical!!!
Datong Jun: Transparent butterflies are also too beautiful!
December - Weiyang
When I was a child, there were a lot of low trees on the side of the road in the countryside, and I have hardly seen them now.
Happy old naughty boy
: Sigh, this blinding metallic luster
Hui Ji is harmless: Although it is very good-looking, I still want to be zi er wa zi er wa zi er wa
…………………………
There are good things,
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