The violence of butterflies

With an average annual rainfall of 2,500 mm and forest coverage of 70%, the pristine natural ecological environment of Mandingo Township in Jinking County, Hong he Prefecture, Yunnan Province, provides a very good habitat for various wild animals and is a natural gene pool for flora and fauna. A variety of wildlife can be seen here, including a variety of butterflies, and the famous Red River Butterfly Valley is located here. There are more than 400 species of butterflies in the Red River Butterfly Valley, ranking first in the world. Every year from May to June, there is a rare phenomenon of the concentrated outbreak of Arrow-ringed butterflies here.

According to news reports, there have been hundreds of millions of baby butterflies about to ledge in the forests of Butterfly Valley since the beginning of May. Some experts say that under the influence of last year's high temperatures, the growth and development of arrow-ringed butterflies in Butterfly Valley have accelerated and the chrysalis period is earlier than in previous years, so the outbreak of arrow-ringed butterflies this year is expected to be about 5 days earlier than in previous years. This butterfly outbreak will be the largest in this area in the past 10 years in terms of the ecological landscape. When thousands of butterflies are dancing, the scene is truly magnificent.

Although the number of these butterflies is very large, but there is no need to worry about whether these butterfly outbreaks pose any threat. Because every year there will be such a scene, and the outbreak of butterflies also shows that the ecological environment of this area is very suitable for the survival of these butterflies. This is also the result of our human conservation.

Butterfly violence to complete mating?

Like other animals, butterflies also reproduce sexually to complete the reproduction of offspring, that is, the male butterfly germ cells need to combine with the male and female butterfly germ cells to become fertilized eggs, and then the fertilized eggs develop into new individuals. However, there seems to be some violence in the way butterflies bond, with males forcing females to wear "chastity belts".

Researchers have discovered many years ago that some insects use "mating plugs" to "plug" the reproductive organs of females after mating, to prevent other males from bonding with females again. This is a good way for these animals to protect their genes to continue, after all, many animals are not as monogamous as we humans, they will complete the union with many different individuals, which may affect the survival of their offspring. Anna, a doctoral student in entomology at the Florida Museum of Natural History's Cabala's Laboratory, said the "mating plugs" are like chastity belts around the abdominal position of females, and do serve to prevent other males from continuing to mate.

The "mating plug" is a gelatinous compound that is left inside the female butterfly's body after the union is complete, and then the gelatinous compound hardens and becomes like a plug. The researchers also found that the "mating plugs" left in the female butterflies vary greatly and have different shapes, some look like shells with curved structures, some look like hooks, and some look like pitchforks, and can even stab other male butterflies, and finally effectively stop other male butterflies from mating.

This kind of behavior of male butterflies is very selfish because female butterflies want to be able to finish bonding with more males to increase the genetic diversity of their offspring. Therefore, some female butterflies have also evolved larger organs to cope, such as some female butterflies have a hard and smooth plate structure where the organ is exposed, and some female butterflies have a large organ so that the male butterflies can not be well fixed "mating plug".