Welcome to Day 21 of my July Trivia posts.*
Trivia: Butterflies taste with their feet.
This is true, and the details are even cooler.
Butterflies don’t bite or chew. They suck up liquids such as nectar, sap, fruit juices, and sometimes even animal carcass juices (yuck.) They have a long tongue built like a straw called a proboscis, which enables them to drink their dinner. So they have no need to smell solid items. Why then do they have smell sensors on their feet?
They smell leaves to decide if the leaves will taste good to their caterpillars. If they determine the leaf is tasty, the butterfly will lay their eggs there. The future caterpillars should thank their mothers for laying them in such a bountiful area.
I give this trivia a 10 out of 10. This trivia is true, and butterflies are awesome.
*I’m doing something hard (for me) in July that I don’t want to talk about until August (in case I fail.) This something takes a lot of time, so I’m simplifying my July posts. I’m using a list of trivia that Aunt Patti emailed me. Each day, I will explore a trivia fact and bring you the truth, not just the clickbait. I might even rate the trivia. I think this will be fun because I love exploring new topics and sharing them with you. I hope you learn something too. If you do, why not share it with a friend. One of my goals is to get more readers, and word of mouth is a great way to do that. Many thanks.