In order for butterflies to stay alive, they must avoid spiders, wasps, birds, dragonflies, lizards, and other predators that want to eat them. There are a number of ways butterflies escape predation.
One way is to “list” or play dead. Listing is a nautical term describing a boat that is leaning strongly towards the water during a storm. By listing, the butterfly is hiding its shadow or mimicking a fallen, dead leaf. A butterfly lying on the ground motionless appears dead to predators.
This behavior was noted long ago by naturalists. Clarence Weed writes in Butterflies Worth Knowing (The Country Life Press, 1922):
The fact has long been noticed that various butterflies have the habit at times of feigning death and dropping to the ground where they may lie motionless for a considerable period…Even in warm weather when one of these butterflies is suddenly disturbed it is likely to fold its legs upon its body and drop to the ground, allowing itself to be handled without showing any signs of life…As the insect lies motionless upon the ground it is very likely to blend so thoroughly with its surroundings that it becomes concealed, and any bird which had startled it from the branch above would have difficulty in finding it.
The word “feigning” comes from the French word feindre which means to pretend. So, to feign death, means to pretend to be dead.
I recently observed this death feigning behavior in our backyard. On October 21, 2012 at 10:30 a.m., I saw several Cloudless Sulphurs in a microclimate of warmth on a low berm where they were sheltered from wind by red cedars. It was a sunny day. Virginia sweetspire ‘Henry’s Garnet’ helped provide additional wind shelter and also contributed some fading leaves as well for butterfly camouflage. Cloudless Sulphurs had frequented the area on several days before this day. In addition, on a previous day, I had found on the ground the severed wings of a Cloudless Sulphur which indicated predation.
On this day, however, of the several Cloudless Sulphurs basking near the ground, one of them, a female, appeared lifeless. She was lying sideways with her wings folded and lying almost flat on the leaf. Even her legs were twisted in a lifeless manner. Since I reasoned she must be dead, I drew closer and began to reach down to pick her up when she flew away promptly and strongly right before my eyes!
©Rita Venable 2012
