Meta Question

Seek's avatar

What's with all the butterflies?

Asked by Seek (34805points) June 6th, 2014

Seriously, there are about a kabillion of youse guys with butterfly avatars. Is there another club I wasn’t invited to join?

It’s ok, I know I’m not cool enough for the Chrysalis Gang.

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

25 Answers

Mimishu1995's avatar

Maybe there is a secret “save our butterfly” campaign going on here?

Coloma's avatar

Mine was just a random choise today but then, the butterfly flock came out of the woodwork. Haha
They were there before me but I didn’t even notice. I just wanted something new and colorful so I could find myself. haha

talljasperman's avatar

It is most likely a migration of Monarch butterflies.

dxs's avatar

Oh come on! I was feeling bad that I don’t ask enough questions and so I was just about to ask this!
I don’t know.

Brian1946's avatar

We were all just butter until we were defenestrated by one of Symbeline’s zombies. ;-)

Coloma's avatar

Correction” Choice not Choise. lol

Berserker's avatar

Ha. Defenestrate. I love that word.

For me, it just happened one evening when I was looking up butterfly pictures online. I saved a few, and used this one. I keep telling everyone it’s my weak spot haha. I always liked butterflies. When I was a kid, and before I discovered video games, I used to love insects, and butterflies were my favorite ones.
Not going to bore you with childhood memories about how I’ve been stung by things I didn’t even know could sting, or my salad bowl +strainer experiments with caterpillars, who turned into butterflies…or, sometimes, I got parasitic mini flies or solitary wasps instead of butterflies…cuz sometimes certain insects lay eggs on caterpillars, then the eggs hatch while the caterpillar is in its cocoon, and uses the inside for food, and…yeah, butterflies rule.

I wonder if like, if you’re a butterfly, if the wings are like giant, soft blankets. Haha. Not that butterflies are soft…well some of those nocturnal ones are…but they look soft!

El_Cadejo's avatar

I don’t have a butterfly avatar….but I have a good butterfly story.

When I was a little kid I found the most amazing looking caterpillar. Naturally as a little boy I ran off to the house to grab a jar to catch it. After catching the caterpillar I came across this crazy big spider, and again, as a little boy, I wanted that too….but I only had one jar….. they can be friends right?

As soon as the spider got into the jar with the caterpillar, hundreds of baby spiders came leaping off her back to attack the caterpillar. I freaked out and dumped them both out of the jar and tried to save the caterpillar. I remember I ended up bringing it to school where we set up a tank for it. Eventually it made a cocoon and then this beautiful butterfly emerged one day.

I spend quite a bit of time outside and I have never encountered that same type of caterpillar again. I’m happy to have gotten the chance to see it once though.

Mimishu1995's avatar

@El_Cadejo Wow, that caterpillar looks like it comes from a cartoon. What an eye is has :)

And how did you manage to save the caterpillar in time? Chasing off 10 spiders in time was quite a feast I think.

johnpowell's avatar

Not cool enough for the Facebook group.

Berserker's avatar

@Mimishu1995 Haha, that isn’t actually an eye. It looks like one and serves as a defense mechanism. Basically predators like birds mistake it for an eye, and avoid the caterpillar. Some even have patterns that look like faces.
But none of them are actually eyes or mouths. Caterpillars are slow and pretty much defenseless, so nature has given some of them bright colors, shapes and patterns that throw off predators who might register it as something like a bird, cat or snake and what have you. OR some caterpillars have dark colors, so they can camouflage on bark, or some are all green, to hide in leaves…you get the point. :)
Some are also poisonous if eaten…not that this saves the caterpillar much, but the colors it has usually tells a would be predator that it’s not a good idea to eat it.

Some butterflies also have shapes on their wings that serve the same purpose.

One here.

Another.

And the famous Death Head Moth.

Never quite understood how that one actually works though…animals don’t understand death symbolism…doesn’t look like an actual skull though. And it’s small, on its thorax, but it must do the job of freaking out predators who think it’s a face.

Seek's avatar

Just to be contrary, I am now a Luna Moth.

Because butterflies are for people who sleep at night. Or something.

ucme's avatar

Funny butterfly moment from Only Fools and Horses…
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=epBu-WmIq9Q

dxs's avatar

@Seek If you ask me, yours looks the most like the Lunesta bug.

GloPro's avatar

@Seek You’re STILL not in the super secret FB club? Wow. You must just be boycotting your invite.

“In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies.” Dr. Seuss

Berserker's avatar

Luna Moth! I caught one of those before. It was just sitting there…sleeping. XD

Coloma's avatar

I love these guys, they hang out on my porch now and then after dark.

www.bugguide.net/node/view/427

Berserker's avatar

@Coloma Yeah those are great. We have these too, or ones that look like that. In the same family, anyway. They’re probably the biggest insects we have in Canada. Seriously those cute little buggers are huge.

Coloma's avatar

@Symbeline They are! They are HUGE!

CWOTUS's avatar

I’m batman.

Coloma's avatar

^^^ Please don’t eat my butterfly batman.

PhiNotPi's avatar

My avatar is a dragon… curve.

Mimishu1995's avatar

<———What happened to real human now?

dxs's avatar

I guess my avatar’s not very noteworthy. Have I used that one here before?

Coloma's avatar

I’m tempted to replace the butterfly with my cat in a pair of board shorts, but..I’ll wait awhile.
I get bored with my avatars easily, mix it up. lol

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.
Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther