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Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#31

Post by thanatos519 »

ignoramous wrote: post #27
whazor wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I certainly hope the butterfly has more energy after eating through one apple, two pears, three plums, four strawberries, five oranges, a chocolate cake, an ice-cream, a pickle, a cheese, a salami, a lollipop, a cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, a watermelon, and finally a green leaf.

For the out of loop non-Anglo parents / non-parents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Very_Hungry_Caterpillar

Not just for Anglos! I have it in Russian and Dutch too.

From your link: "... translated into more than 60 languages ..."

Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#33

Post by taylorius »

smeej wrote: post #23
ummonk wrote: post #20

How do they know the butterflies didn’t, say, hitch a ride on a cruise ship with a flower garden?

Or for that matter, weren't brought intentionally by someone who traveled on a ship with the equivalent of a terrarium or something that would keep them alive that long?

Or nestled in a flowery hat work by someone on a trans-atlantic flight? SO many holes in this story... :-)

Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#35

Post by bamboozled »

blast wrote: post #5
hulitu wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How is this possible? Wind ?

From the article: “We estimate that without wind, the butterflies could have flown a maximum of 780 km [485 miles] before consuming all their fat and, therefore, their energy.” So they can fly 485 miles without wind? that is still an unbelievably long way!

That is some amazing freaking efficiency right there.

Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#36

Post by madaxe_again »

ummonk wrote: post #20

How do they know the butterflies didn’t, say, hitch a ride on a cruise ship with a flower garden?

I was about to say, they seem to entirely forget about the existence of ships - humans are pretty good at displacing species around the place.

Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#37

Post by tomcam »

taylorius wrote: post #33
smeej wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or for that matter, weren't brought intentionally by someone who traveled on a ship with the equivalent of a terrarium or something that would keep them alive that long?

Or nestled in a flowery hat work by someone on a trans-atlantic flight? SO many holes in this story... :-)

It's flowery hats all the way down

Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#38

Post by ramesh31 »

fillskills wrote: post #2

How is this possible? I cant even walk 10 miles without needing food. Where did the butterflies store their energy? So many questions... Amazing if true.

>"How is this possible? I cant even walk 10 miles without needing food. Where did the butterflies store their energy?"

Air is a very different substance at that size scale. It is quite thick and viscous. It would be more accurate to say that the butterflies floated across the Atlantic. Locust hordes do the same, and can travel thousands of miles via the jet stream. They are not flapping their wings to maintain thrust the entire way.

Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#39

Post by NKosmatos »

pvaldes wrote: post #4
fillskills wrote: post #2

How is this possible? I cant even walk 10 miles without needing food. Where did the butterflies store their energy? So many questions... Amazing if true.

Just two words to add to this theme: Pantala flavescens

Wow!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantala_flavescens

Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping

#40

Post by fullspectrumdev »

fillskills wrote: post #2

How is this possible? I cant even walk 10 miles without needing food. Where did the butterflies store their energy? So many questions... Amazing if true.

Try walking further: calculate a loop of slightly longer than that and go for it.

I’ve had a lot of fun doing exactly this as exercise in the last few years - picking incrementally longer “loops” of distance and just fucking going for it with a bunch of water or Gatorade equivalents :)

Caveat: may become addictive.

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