Wing Damage

[Stinky Bob]

Its a question I have been meaning to ask for ages but the attached Common Blue (I Think) has prompted me again, can butterflies repair/regenerate wing damage and if so typically how much can they repair.

Thanks in advance

[GuyF]

Unfortunately butterflies can't repair their wings, once the adult has emerged it can only get tattier! It's amazing how much damage they can take and still be flying though, for some reason two of the tattiest butterflies I've seen were Silver-washed Fritillaries -


Both were still going about their business though, the male even continued to chase any butterflies that came near him!
Guy

[Stinky Bob]

Originally Posted by GuyF

Unfortunately butterflies can't repair their wings, once the adult has emerged it can only get tattier! It's amazing how much damage they can take and still be flying though, for some reason two of the tattiest butterflies I've seen were Silver-washed Fritillaries -


Both were still going about their business though, the male even continued to chase any butterflies that came near him!
Guy

Cheers Guy,
lol they are tattiest I have ever seen

[earthdragon64]

I've got some more candidates for the "Tattiest Butterfly Still Flying" contest.











Regards, Audrey.

[Stinky Bob]

Originally Posted by earthdragon64

I've got some more candidates for the "Tattiest Butterfly Still Flying" contest.











Regards, Audrey.

There beyond tatty, am surprised they got takeoff clearance from the CAA

[Miss Caretaker]

I find it amazing that they can fly like this. It makes you wonder if the size of their wings is actually necessary as they seem to manage with only half of them!

[whaleomeloette]

i moved a peacock butterfly off the busy road the other week and it opened up while sitting on my hand before flying off, half of its wing on the top left was gone and it had no problem flying.
how does this damage happen mostly?

[slimrbp]

I agree it is amazing to see how little wing they need sometimes.

In our Garden we had a Large White that had unfortunately been broken to the point where it couldn't fly. In this case I saw it get damaged in an air battle with another male for a nearby female.
It seems that an impotant part of the structure was damaged and then any further attempts to fly escalated the damage to the mebranes. So I guess some damage could be territorial disputes.
Also looking at some of the shots I would take a second guess at a predator (bird perhaps?).

[Lance Morgan]

Alas the smaller the wings the more energy they use up in flight so they need more nectar. Ultimately a point is reached when they can no longer sustain flight.

[earthdragon64]

I saw this Scotch Argus the other day and immediately thought of this thread.



When I first saw it in flight, I couldn't ID it because it looked so different from the other Scotch Argus butterflies. When it landed and I got a good look at it, i was amazed it was capable of flight at all!

Regards, Audrey.