With the flashy red and gold colors that it displays, the Eumaeus atala butterfly, in its caterpillar state, already makes a statement to the potential predators around it: “I’m not a good meal. Don’t eat me.” And it is not lying when it tells this. Why? Because it’s poisonous. But how did it become a poisonous butterfly? The answer lies in the food it wants to munch on:
plants called cycads that have been around since before dinosaurs roamed the Earth and contain a potent liver toxin called cycasin.
The Atala butterfly’s five closest relatives also share the same behavior, and they are poisonous, too.
Learn more about the Atala butterfly and its relatives over at EurekAlert.
(Image Credit: Robert Robbins, Smithsonian/ EurekAlert)
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