Watch a butterfly suck the tears of a bird's eye, because nature is metal

Some people just thrive on the stage.

Take for example this butterfly. Somewhere in the Brazilian Amazon, this butterfly literally drinks the tears of a bird in the middle of the night. Although we do not hold any degree in lepidopterology at Live Science, we think we are right to say it's pretty metal.

In fact, drinking tears from your neighbors is quite common in biology to have a name: lachryphagia. According to Leandro João Carneiro of Lima Moraes, a biologist at Brazil's National Institute of Amazonian Research, tear consumption is a relatively common method for insects such as butterflies, butterflies and bees. while doing field work in Central Amazon.

Moraes wrote in a new study published Sept. 17 in the journal Ecology that for insects like these, some crocodile tears or tears of turtles can provide a good source of free sodium and even a little protein. Large cold-blooded reptiles are good destinations for drinking, as they tend to become torpid, that is, to reduce their metabolism and to lie down for long periods of time. A video shot in the Amazon earlier this year shows it well, while eight opportunistic butterflies take turns drinking tears from the eyes of a river turtle.

So what about birds? According to Moraes, lachryphagia by birds is a much rarer scenario (its only study is the third). You can probably guess why, no matter if you have ever tried to drink the tears of a bird; the birds are just too fast, too small and too good to fly. [See Photos of Butterflies Drinking Turtle Tears]

But in this case, wrote Moraes, the success of the moth could be due to the timing. Moraes filmed at night – a time when the black chin flight (seen in the video) went into a state of torpor, becoming virtually immobile as a side effect of the drop in body temperature. This also makes the bird vulnerable to the appetite of moths. In a short time, Moraes witnessed two separate mites throwing their proboscis into the eyes of two separate birds – and no birds fought.

"The immobility of birds during these events may be related to the significant decrease in the metabolism of these organisms during the nocturnal period," wrote Moraes in his study, "rather than benefiting directly from this relationship".

Indeed, it is unlikely that birds (or turtles or crocodiles) pull something from their tears. In fact, Moraes wrote that it could even expose them to a higher risk of developing eye diseases when a strange insect dives into their eyes for a drink. It's as if Mom always said: You do not know where this proboscis is.

Originally published on Live Science.