True Facts: The Crazy Defenses of Butterflies and Moths

Summary

This humorous and educational episode explores the fascinating world of butterflies and moths, collectively known as lepidopterans. It delves into their unique lifecycle, from a 'slow-moving worm thing' to their transformation within a 'sleeping bag dingleberry', emerging as 'ridiculous' yet sophisticated creatures. The narrative humorously addresses their survival tactics, including their distinctive flying patterns, mimicry strategies, and the intricate design of their wings which utilize both pigmentation and structural properties to create vivid colors and patterns. This blend of humor and science highlights the complexity and beauty of these insects, debunking myths while enlightening viewers about their remarkable adaptations and the science behind their vibrant appearances.

Takeaways

• 🐛 Butterflies and moths, known as Lepidoptera, undergo a transformation from a caterpillar into an adult through a cocoon phase, emerging as either strikingly beautiful or camouflaged insects.
• 🐦 Their wings are significantly larger in proportion to their body compared to other flying insects, allowing them unique flight capabilities and the ability to manipulate air for lift and propulsion.
• 💨 The unique flapping and bending of their wings create vortex rings in the air, which aid in their lift and forward movement, showcasing their sophisticated adaptation to flight.
• 🐢 Some butterflies are toxic to predators, displaying bright colors as a warning, while non-toxic species may mimic these patterns for protection.
• 📈 The colors of butterfly wings can come from pigments or the microscopic structure of the scales, leading to a variety of visual effects including iridescence and camouflage.
• 👀 Eye spots and other patterns on wings can serve as defense mechanisms, either by startling predators or by mimicking more dangerous creatures.
• 🐝 Butterflies and moths can have specialized scales that absorb or reflect sound, helping them avoid detection by nocturnal predators like bats.
• 🕷️ Some species employ acoustic tricks to confuse or evade predators, such as creating clicking sounds to interfere with a bat's sonar.
• 🦋 Structural colors and patterns on butterfly wings are not just for show; they play crucial roles in survival through mimicry, camouflage, and communication.
• 🐞 Butterflies and moths demonstrate a remarkable ability to adapt their appearance and behavior for survival, from the way they fly to the colors they display.

Q & A

What defensive strategies do butterflies and moths use?

They use bright colors to signal toxicity, mimicry to pretend to be toxic species, camouflage to blend into the background, eye spots to startle predators, breakaway wings to lose non-essential parts if attacked, and jamming sounds to confuse bats.

How do butterflies and moths fly?

They take advantage of air vortices and fluids. On the downstroke their wings create swirls of air that provide lift, and on the upstroke the wings shoot out air to propel them forward.

Where do the bright colors of butterfly wings come from?

Some colors come from pigments, but many bright colors are created by the microscopic architecture of the wing scales. These form layers that reflect and amplify specific wavelengths of light.

How are eye spots formed on butterfly wings?

Tiny patches of cells on the wings release proteins that cause surrounding scales to create pigments, forming eye spot patterns.

What is polymorphism in butterflies?

Polymorphism is when a butterfly species has multiple forms. In some species, each form mimics a different toxic butterfly species as a defense.

How do moths that hunt at night defend themselves?

Nocturnal moths use long tails to confuse bats and some have scales that absorb sound. Others make jamming noises to interfere with bat sonar.

Why do some butterflies have long tails on their back wings?

The tails seem to draw attacks towards less essential body parts. The veins there are weaker too, allowing pieces to tear off more easily.

What causes butterflies and moths to fly erratically?

The erratic flying is often deliberate to confuse predators. They actually can fly straight if needed.

How does mimicking toxic species help non-toxic butterflies?

By resembling distasteful species in appearance and behavior, harmless butterflies gain some protection from predators that learn to avoid their toxic mimics.

Do back wings help with flying or defense more?

Back wings assist more with agile dodging movements than actual flying propulsion and lift.

Outlines

00:00

🦋 Butterflies' ridiculous life stages and flight strategies

Paragraph 1 discusses the life cycle of butterflies, describing their larval and pupal stages. It points out how despite dangers, butterflies emerge with impractical, beautiful wings. It explains how they fly, using vortex rings for lift and propulsion, and bending their wings to shoot out air for more thrust.

05:00

🎨 Butterfly wings: pigments, structural colors, and creativity

Paragraph 2 explains how butterfly wings get their color from pigments and structural properties. It describes melanin pigments as well as laminar nanostructures that interfere with light to produce iridescent colors. It points out butterflies combine pigments and structural colors, and use specialized cells to form eye spots and patterns.

10:01

🦇 Moth strategies: deceit, distraction, and jamming bats

Paragraph 3 discusses defensive strategies used by moths. It covers camouflage, startle tactics using bright hidden colors, long tails to confuse bats. It explains moths can absorb sound or jam bat sonar using scales and genital valves. A species that can't hear uses its wings to make noise constantly.

Keywords

💡wings

Butterfly and moth wings are a key theme throughout the video. They are described as large, lightweight, floppy structures that allow fluid flight. Their shape, flexibility, and ability to create air vortices are examined. Wings are also discussed as playing a defensive role, with patterns, eye spots, and bright inside colors used to startle predators.

💡flight

The video analyzes the mechanics of butterfly and moth flight. It looks at how the wings move on upstrokes and downstrokes to create vertical lift and horizontal propulsion. Irregular, fluttering flight paths are also discussed as a defensive strategy.

💡colors

Butterfly wing colors are a major focus, with details provided on structural colors from wing scales versus pigment colors. Mimicry of color patterns between species is covered. Bright colors are linked to toxicity and warning signals.

💡scales

Microscopic scales cover butterfly wings and contribute to structural colors. Different scale shapes influence light reflection and interference patterns to create iridescent and shimmering effects.

💡defenses

Butterflies and moths have developed defenses against predators like birds and bats. These include wing patterns, eye spots, tail streamers, sound jamming scales, and the ability to lose wings.

💡toxic

Some butterflies contain toxins that make them unpalatable to predators. Their bright color patterns warn potential predators of this defense. Other species mimic the color patterns for protection.

💡bats

Moths have evolved defenses specifically tailored to evading bats, which use echolocation to hunt them. Tactics include sound-absorbing scales, jamming clicks, and wing beats that create false sonar targets.

💡camouflage

Some moths and butterflies rely on camouflage for defense, rather than bright colors. They blend into backgrounds or mimic dead leaves.

💡flexible

Butterfly wings are described as floppy and flexible. This allows them to bend on the upstroke and shoot out air to provide forward thrust.

💡vortex

Wing motion creates trailing vortex rings that provide lift on the downstroke and horizontal propulsion on the upstroke.

Highlights

Butterflies and moths have evolved impressive defensive strategies.

Butterfly wings create vortex rings that provide both lift and propulsion.

Butterflies flap their wings slowly, about 10 times per second compared to bees' 200 flaps per second.

The edges of butterflies' wings seal air and shoot it out for forward propulsion.

When flying backwards, butterflies change the wing angle for lift on downstroke and propulsion on upstroke.

Toxic butterflies often have bright wings as a warning and fly slowly in straight lines.

Non-toxic butterflies mimic the colors and patterns of toxic ones to gain protection.

Butterfly wing colors come from pigments and structural colors in the scales.

The shape and structure of the scales amplify and reflect certain light wavelengths.

Butterflies form eye spots and other patterns by controlling protein secretions.

Butterflies can lose back wings and still fly, as they mainly help with maneuvering.

Some moths make sounds to jam bat sonar or hide from it with sound-absorbing scales.

A deaf moth species makes sounds with its wings to confuse bats.

Tails on moths can confuse bats or draw attacks away from vital body parts.

Butterflies and moths have evolved many impressive adaptations.

Transcripts

this episode sponsored by brilliant

learn to

think the adult form of insects in the

order lepidota the butterflies and the

moas are some of the most beautiful

insects in the world but come on they're

ridiculous just look at them to get to

this point they've had to go through a

baby phase as a sort of above ground

slow moving worm thing and then they

just hang out for a couple weeks in a

sleeping bag dingleberry so they've had

plenty of time to plan and this is what

they turn into I mean it's not like

being in nature as a walk in the park

well I guess it is but my point is it's

dangerous out there for a butterfly

Jerry that's a fish oh dang that Bird's

a dick my point is everything's trying

to eat you and that's the body you're

working with come on it's like being in

the middle of a battlefield and

someone's dancing around in the kimono

just look at the way they fly it's like

a drunk person trying to find the

bathroom in an Ikea but don't fall for

it it's a ruse lepid dotrans are the

perfect killing machines Jerry that's

not true well I don't care if you saw it

on Reddit we talked about this do your

job Jerry anyway butterflies and moths

have two pairs of wings one in front and

one in back These Wings in comparison to

their bodies are much larger and broader

than those of other flying animals now

being lightweight with huge Flappers

means that they can take advantage of

some of the fluid properties of air

first off they don't flap that often

around 10 times a second compare that to

the 200 times a second of a bee for

example with each stroke the edges of

their wings creates swirls of air that

resemble smoke rings on the downstroke

these Vortex Rings move down and away

from the body which results in vertical

lift but on the upstroke the Rings move

away more horizontally which causes the

butterfly to move forward so as the

butterfly flies it leaves behind a trail

of these Vortex rings as it alternates

between lift and propulsion but there's

an additional trick going on here These

Wings Are razor sharp and people get

killed to death really Jerry just stop

it These Wings Are quite floppy floppy

and if you're paying attention you can

see that on the upstroke the wings bend

in a way that causes the front edges to

come together first this seal creates a

pocket of air that's squeezed out like a

fart from under a duvet as the rest of

the Wings close on each other and that

air bubble is shot right out through the

center of a Vortex ring just like that

fart was initially shot up now and this

creates even more forward propulsion now

when they fly backwards they change the

angle of their body so the upst creates

lift and the downstroke moves them

horizontal so when you see butterflies

flip flaing all over the place like the

flying equivalent of a marshpit they're

doing that on purpose they can fly in a

freaking straight line if they want to

now they do that crazy flying stick to

with the birds that want to eat them

it's a defensive strategy float like a

butterfly it stings when I pee sort of

thing here you know how some butterflies

are toxic to birds right not my personal

favorite form of Defense by the way yeah

that's right that tastes like crap eat

me bird oh you are here for example

is a blue jay puking right after eating

a monarch showed him anyway the

poisonous ones often have brightly

colored wings so at least the birds can

learn to stay away after a couple bouts

of food poisoning these toxic ones also

tend to fly slower and straighter it's

like another signal to the birds not to

with them now non-toxic delicious

butterflies will often mimic the colors

and patterns of toxic butterflies to get

some of that protection and some of

these mimicking butterflies are

polymorphic which means they can come in

a number of different forms sometimes

each one of those forms mimics a

different toxic butterfly but it goes

beyond that females of the species pelop

polyus come in a few different forms

this one the top one it's mating mimics

a toxic butterfly while this form mimics

a non-toxic male here's the kicker when

it mimics the toxic butterfly it doesn't

just mimic its colors it mimics how it

flies flying slower and straighter and

and that's the thing these beautiful

insects are artists and it all

comes back to those wings I mean I know

they look like they made from tissue

paper that got wet over top a child's

marker drawing but that's more Bullit

they're incredibly sophisticated don't

get me started well I guess I already

have the whole thing kicks off in the

sleeping bag thing first the basic shape

of the wing is formed by these two

membranes that sandwich together around

veins the veins both had some structure

but also carry the butterflies version

of blood butter blood once that's on its

way a series of overlapping scales begin

to form on the outside surface and each

one of those scales is anchored into its

own little socket as these scales form

you can see colors begin to emerge

transforming them into the scary clowns

of the insect where Jerry you're afraid

of butterflies they're not dangerous no

clowns are I mean butterflies aren't you

can see that it's not just one pattern

that forms but rather a series of

patterns that overlay one another some

of these colors like these Browns and

blacks are made from pigments like

melanin which we have in our skin

pigments work by absorbing certain

wavelengths of light and reflecting

others your bright blue t-shirt absorbs

all the wavelengths except the bluish

ones which are reflected back to your

eyes the scales of the butterfly can

have some pigments in them but so can

the membranes underneath them here is

cyoa stenus on the right all of its

scales have been removed from the wing

the remaining green is formed from a

liquid pigment in the membrane that can

stain a piece of paper if you touch it

but this is a bit unusual many of the

brightest and most impressive colors on

butterfly wings don't come from pigments

or anything that would stain a piece of

paper that touched them instead the

colors are made from the architecture of

the scales themselves if you zoom in you

can see that scales are made of these

ridges and The Ridges can come in a

number of different three-dimensional

shapes in some there's a place for

little pockets of pigment to hang out

but in others there's no pigment at all

instead there are these structures

called lelli which are just the right

size and shape to take advantage of some

of the strange properties of light as

light hits one of these a certain amount

is reflected back off the surface and

some light just passes right through but

depending on how thick these are some

wavelengths are reflected off the back

surface now these two sources of

reflected light interact with each other

sometimes canceling each other out but

sometimes amplifying each other to

create an intense color whatever light

passed on through often hits another one

of these lame and then another

reflecting back even more of a certain

wavelength that's how this blue morpho

for example gets such a vivid blue if

you change the angle that the light hits

these structures the wavelengths

interfere with each other differently

and that's why some butterflies Shimmer

and appear iridescent as they move this

is different from pigments which reflect

the same wavelength regardless of which

way you look at them oh look that one's

laying bibes but often these butterfly

colors are the combination of both

pigments and the structural colors made

by the lamell that blue morpho from

before has a layer of black pigment

underneath which absorbs the light that

passed through and wasn't reflected but

there's another species of Morpho that

has the reflective scales but not the

black pigment and the wings appear this

bluish opal white if you want to learn

more about the physics of how butterfly

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were we all right now if you've got the

ability to do all that with color you

know you're going to get creative these

tiny little patches of cells sometimes

form on the wing and they release

proteins that cause the surrounding

scales to create different sorts of

pigments this is how butterfly eye spots

are formed and I get it you turn a

corner and see one of these you might

pants this one not so much more of a

sand Vibe and then come on I mean this

one's just adorable I don't want to run

away I want to get closer to it and then

of course there's too much of a good

thing but why stop at just eyes and you

can tattoo snake heads on your shoulders

who's going to want to with you then now

if you're not feeling flamboyant you can

take a more subtle approach and blend

into the background or be see-through

room sort of I mean come on that looks

just like a dead leaf standing upright

on a living

Leaf but if a predator sees through you

little disguise you're not yet

some butterflies and moas that are drab

or camouflaged have bright colors on the

insides of their wings so if they get

found out they can buy some time with

little razzled Dazzle and that sh works

and the science hippies know because

they with the chickens chicken thinks

it's in for a nice meal and then nope

reacts like a sane person would if they

picked out a black licorice jelly bean

if you're one of those weirdos that

likes them I don't want to hear it it's

an Abomination now if all of this

doesn't work and you're about to get a

bite taken out of you you still have

some control over what part gets bit

those long things on the back wings of

the swallow tail for example seem to be

effective at drawing an attack and in

fact the veins on those back segments

are weaker to allow for a piece to rip

off a bit more easily and that's not a

bad result butterflies and mothes can

often fly just fine missing a back wheel

Wing or two the back Wings it turns out

help more in dodging and weaving than

they do with the actual flying and

that's why some of them look a bit

ridden hard and put away wi I'm bringing

that phrase back now moths that are

active at night sometimes have these

really long tails in the dark they can't

really use colors and patterns to the

same defensive effect because the bats

that hunt them use sound instead of

vision to

hunt having a really long tail can

confuse the hell out of a bat or at

least get it to do minimal damage

but when you're getting hunted by

something that uses sound there's other

tricks you can use to confuse the hunter

some moths have scales that can absorb

sound making them invisible or inaudible

I don't know but another way to go is

make more sound most moas have

exceptional hearing and can sense when a

bat is closing in and some use special

structures that can create clicking

sounds to jam the bat sonar sometimes

that involves scales on the moth's

abdomen or in this case the genital

valve you can try this at home now

there's a species of moth that lost its

ability to hear so it can't hear the

bats coming you know what it does it

uses part of its wing beat to make a

sound so it can make bat confusing noise

all the

time and so the bats try to catch things

that don't exist and that is how the

leopard dtrans do haven't done that for

a while have we Jerry oh and also it's

not floats like a butterfly it stings

when I pee Jerry it's a bee no the bee

isn't peeing Jerry it's stinging do you

understand no the bee isn't the reason

it stings while what do you mean how did

it get up there no one's peeing Jerry

well of course it would hurt Jetman

that's beside the point that's what the

be said I don't get

[Music]

it

[Music]

oh