Butterflies 'vampires' use blood as gifts

Scientists have discovered a blood-sucking moth in Russia's Siberia region. Their blades have hooks and prongs to drill deep into the prey's skin.

"Vampire" butterflies suck blood in the hands of a scientist.Photo: National Geographic.

'Vampire' moths differ only from Calyptra thalictri - a fruit-eating butterfly that is quite common in Central Europe and Southern Europe - in some small details on the wings. When perched on people's hands, they quickly use their tongues with hooks and prongs to drill deep into the skin and suck blood.

Entomologist Jennifer Zaspel of the University of Florida (USA) said that the ancestor of blood-sucking butterflies could be butterfly Calyptra thalictri. 'Based on geographic, behavioral and differences in butterfly wings sucking on blood and fruit-eating butterflies, we can deduce that vampire butterflies are new species. But we cannot be certain when we haven't reviewed their genes , 'Jenifer said.

If fruit butterflies are the ancestors of vampire butterflies, the scientific community will have the opportunity to find out the cause of some butterflies like blood. Some experts have suggested that the habit of sucking blood in insects and animals comes from the use of tears, feces, pus (from wounds) of other species as food.

Biology professor Chris Nice, a butterfly evolution expert at the University of Texas, confirmed that some fruit-eating butterflies have hooks and prongs on the tongue to poke fruit. 'In terms of morphology, the blades of fruit butterflies and butterflies suck in blood quite similarly. Thus, it is possible that blood-sucking butterflies used to eat fruit, ' Chris said.

According to scientists' observations, only male vampire butterflies suck blood so Jennifer thinks they transmit salt in the blood to female butterflies during mating. 'There is no evidence that blood increases the lifespan of male butterflies or provides a benefit. So we think blood is a gift for female butterflies, ' Jennifer said.

According to Jennifer, 'sex gifts' can add nutrients to the next generation. Butterfly larvae mainly eat leaves while this food source usually has very little sodium element. If indeed sodium (in salt) is not easy to find in butterfly habitats, we have reason to believe the hypothesis of 'sex gift'.