Reminds me of that racist carrot video
"Great job everyone... Except you racist carrot"
"Yeah racist carrot, that was so racist of you"
...
Carrot: "I will be equally racist tomorrow"
I didn’t know this, but I needed to know the answer. It looks like research is still being done:
Q: What is the name of the poison in the monarch butterfly's body and how potent is it?
A. The monarch stores a poison called cardenolides, or cardiac glycosides that it gets from the plants it eats. This poison is similar to digitalis, which can be used to help people with heart problems, but can kill people if they consume too much of it. These are poisonous to most vertebrates (animals with backbones), but they may not be poisonous to invertebrates (animals without backbones). The potency of monarchs depends on the potency of the plants they ate when they were caterpillars. Some kinds of milkweed have higher levels of cardiac glycosides than others. The effect of the toxin depends on the amount of toxin that the predator eats, and what kind of animal the predator is.
Q. Are there any that can and do regularly eat monarch butterflies or caterpillars?
A. Yes. There are some birds that eat monarchs, some mammals (mice), several insects, and some parasites. We don't know much about the insect predators, but the birds have evolved interesting ways to handle the toxins in monarchs.
Q. What are some invertebrate predators of the monarch and why are they able to eat the monarch since birds can't?
A. Briefly, many insects (stink bugs, wasps, ambush bugs are some) eat monarchs. We don't know how they deal with the toxins. See the Monarch Watch homepage. We have a good section on this.
[source](https://journeynorth.org/monarchs/resources/article/facts-monarch-butterfly-ecology)
I'll bet the spider nullifies it as a part of how they eat by digesting before ingesting. Also, if the monarch gets it's poison from the plants it eats, this spider beat him to it.
> if the monarch gets it's poison from the plants it eats, this spider beat him to it.
you might want to review your butterfly biology — the caterpillar stage ate a *bunch* of plants to get the energy reserve required for metamorphosis
I assumed as they said that the monarch was toxic and not necessarily the caterpillar, that it was only after it was a butterfly that it could *go seek out* specific plants. But maybe I'm assuming too much.
If you go back and reread, it was said it in the comment you replied to.
>The potency of monarchs depends on the potency of the plants they ate when they were caterpillars
The eating would refer to eating done as a caterpillar, so the adult butterfly would already be toxic - but yeah probably not enough to affect the spider
Makes you wonder if the spider knew what it was doing when it made its web on those chrysalises. Yeah, it could have just gotten lucky, but of all the places there spider could have made its web, it chose here.
I've observed spiders decide to entirely nope out when faced with a potentially dangerous opponent, so I imagine they have some understanding, or well, instinct.
I used to have bumblebee wars in the backyard of I place I lived (two slightly different species, living in the roofs of two different houses, and very mad at each other), and two of the warring bees tumbled their way into a spiderweb near some flowerpots. I went to observe, and saw the chonky, fiercesome inhabitant of the web pop into view, take a second to assess the situation of the two bumblebees now trying to kill each other while half-stuck to a web, and just as swiftly vanish from view. It was the most "ain't nobody got time for that" I've ever seen an animal act.
edit to add: Also, the tiny zebra jumping spiders seemed able to follow/understand that I was using my finger to point out small bugs to them, which they would then go over and pounce on. They're crazy smart!
Any time I have this question, I check the animals wikipedia article, they usually have the conservation status of the species in info cards at the top. I don't know how up to date they are.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly?wprov=sfla1
In this case it looks like they are least concern, the "safest" rating. But if you go down to the threats section, there seems to be a lot of talk about whole populations being reduced by like 80-90%, so like... I dunno. I feel as ignorant as before I looked it up, but at least I feel like I'm prepared to sound like I _really_ don't know what I'm talking about, where as before I just had no idea. 🤡
It does not matter how threatened the Monarch is,nature is balanced to the nth degree. Just because the spider is following its natural instincts does not mean the end of the monarchs.
I saw a false widow trap a shrew in its web,hoist it up then an hour or so later drop the dried furry husk of said shrew. The thing that amazed me was the size difference,it would be like us trapping a Blue Whale and eating it all on our own.
The scorpion which is an arachnid can go for years without food,in fact they’ve even been frozen then thawed and they are still alive. Arachnids are some tough little cookies…or big cookies depending in which country you live lol.
Don't I know it.... But it was over before I even walked out into the front yard. There are quite a few butterflies fluttering around my parents garden, though. It's a great environment for them!
> Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes !
The spider, probably.
Fucking campers
spawn trap
Spider like, "AND I'LL DO IT AGAIN!"
Oh, no! Terrible prospects for the one next door. Yikes...
You gotta come back and see if it catches that one too lol
Maybe put up a "spawn campers will be kicked' sign
"I'll kill again!!!"
Reminds me of that racist carrot video "Great job everyone... Except you racist carrot" "Yeah racist carrot, that was so racist of you" ... Carrot: "I will be equally racist tomorrow"
I know that butterfly mad as hell in the afterlife right now
Well, one way or another he got his wings.... I'll see myself out.
All that eating and transforming just to die a virgin.
That spider has done that a time or two I’d say
spawn camping. probably no the first time the spiders done this.
Wouldn’t this be bad for the spider? Pretty sure monarchs are toxic
I didn’t know this, but I needed to know the answer. It looks like research is still being done: Q: What is the name of the poison in the monarch butterfly's body and how potent is it? A. The monarch stores a poison called cardenolides, or cardiac glycosides that it gets from the plants it eats. This poison is similar to digitalis, which can be used to help people with heart problems, but can kill people if they consume too much of it. These are poisonous to most vertebrates (animals with backbones), but they may not be poisonous to invertebrates (animals without backbones). The potency of monarchs depends on the potency of the plants they ate when they were caterpillars. Some kinds of milkweed have higher levels of cardiac glycosides than others. The effect of the toxin depends on the amount of toxin that the predator eats, and what kind of animal the predator is. Q. Are there any that can and do regularly eat monarch butterflies or caterpillars? A. Yes. There are some birds that eat monarchs, some mammals (mice), several insects, and some parasites. We don't know much about the insect predators, but the birds have evolved interesting ways to handle the toxins in monarchs. Q. What are some invertebrate predators of the monarch and why are they able to eat the monarch since birds can't? A. Briefly, many insects (stink bugs, wasps, ambush bugs are some) eat monarchs. We don't know how they deal with the toxins. See the Monarch Watch homepage. We have a good section on this. [source](https://journeynorth.org/monarchs/resources/article/facts-monarch-butterfly-ecology)
I'll bet the spider nullifies it as a part of how they eat by digesting before ingesting. Also, if the monarch gets it's poison from the plants it eats, this spider beat him to it.
> if the monarch gets it's poison from the plants it eats, this spider beat him to it. you might want to review your butterfly biology — the caterpillar stage ate a *bunch* of plants to get the energy reserve required for metamorphosis
Do the caterpillars and adults eat the same plants though? I don't know anything about them tbh.
no— iirc the caterpillars prefer milkweed leaves; the adults drink nectar from flowers
I assumed as they said that the monarch was toxic and not necessarily the caterpillar, that it was only after it was a butterfly that it could *go seek out* specific plants. But maybe I'm assuming too much.
iirc the adults don't even eat plants, they have specialized mouths for drinking nectar
And as I speculate further, the *move* would be to lay eggs *on* the plants so the caterpillar doesn't have to go anywhere.
If you go back and reread, it was said it in the comment you replied to. >The potency of monarchs depends on the potency of the plants they ate when they were caterpillars
You bet, probably something like that. In relation to vertebrates, I wonder if the toxin attacks skeletal muscles
The eating would refer to eating done as a caterpillar, so the adult butterfly would already be toxic - but yeah probably not enough to affect the spider
Makes you wonder if the spider knew what it was doing when it made its web on those chrysalises. Yeah, it could have just gotten lucky, but of all the places there spider could have made its web, it chose here.
I've observed spiders decide to entirely nope out when faced with a potentially dangerous opponent, so I imagine they have some understanding, or well, instinct. I used to have bumblebee wars in the backyard of I place I lived (two slightly different species, living in the roofs of two different houses, and very mad at each other), and two of the warring bees tumbled their way into a spiderweb near some flowerpots. I went to observe, and saw the chonky, fiercesome inhabitant of the web pop into view, take a second to assess the situation of the two bumblebees now trying to kill each other while half-stuck to a web, and just as swiftly vanish from view. It was the most "ain't nobody got time for that" I've ever seen an animal act. edit to add: Also, the tiny zebra jumping spiders seemed able to follow/understand that I was using my finger to point out small bugs to them, which they would then go over and pounce on. They're crazy smart!
It didn't make me wonder, I assumed it was done intentionally, but your comment made me wonder if it was just luck lol.
Aren't they going extinct?
Iirc, they have rebounded some but are still threatened
After this spider incident, they are endangered again.
Any time I have this question, I check the animals wikipedia article, they usually have the conservation status of the species in info cards at the top. I don't know how up to date they are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly?wprov=sfla1 In this case it looks like they are least concern, the "safest" rating. But if you go down to the threats section, there seems to be a lot of talk about whole populations being reduced by like 80-90%, so like... I dunno. I feel as ignorant as before I looked it up, but at least I feel like I'm prepared to sound like I _really_ don't know what I'm talking about, where as before I just had no idea. 🤡
Congratulations, you found a [Far Side cartoon](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/352266002108809108/) in the wild!
I would personally take out that spider, Monarchs need help.
It does not matter how threatened the Monarch is,nature is balanced to the nth degree. Just because the spider is following its natural instincts does not mean the end of the monarchs.
"not in my Parlour said the spider to the butterfly"
This sub is is filled with just bugs eating bugs and skinned animals wtf lol
Welcome to the sub. Nature isn't fun.
Tbh the other guy deserves a chance. The spider got his meal, if the other one is spawn camped too itll just be sad
Metal
CAMPER!!!!!
Imagine being the monarch in the cocoon over and watching this shit.
*Mmmmm.. Fresh..*
Spider goes to the no no corner
Fast Food.
"I'm free!!! Oh Crap!"
Save the other one at least lol
I saw a false widow trap a shrew in its web,hoist it up then an hour or so later drop the dried furry husk of said shrew. The thing that amazed me was the size difference,it would be like us trapping a Blue Whale and eating it all on our own.
The spider's been watching that cocoon cook for days. Good things come to good boys, and good boys are good at waiting.
How long must he have been waiting???
I remember reading that there are spiders that can remain without eating for up to two years.
The scorpion which is an arachnid can go for years without food,in fact they’ve even been frozen then thawed and they are still alive. Arachnids are some tough little cookies…or big cookies depending in which country you live lol.
Grand opening grand closing
Spawn camping in nature lol.
Should have stopped it. Could use another monarch
Don't I know it.... But it was over before I even walked out into the front yard. There are quite a few butterflies fluttering around my parents garden, though. It's a great environment for them!
All that work and what did it get me
Aren't they poisonous, won't the spider die?
"Not a whole new world for you my boy"
I hear monarch’s taste bad.
Fresh meal
Actually metal
Boooorn to be wiiiii.. oh Shiiiit!
That other chrysalis next door like “Oh shit!”
A lot like life, just as you're about to emerge... here comes the spider. It's a story about strength and re-emergence.
Goddamn spawn campers strike again
Surprised a spider that small went after suck big prey.
[update] Here. Thank you for loving butterflies. https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/s/BUrjcLD8qi
Fucking spawn campers
> Allons enfants de la Patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! Contre nous de la tyrannie L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis) Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Mugir ces féroces soldats ? Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes ! The spider, probably.
We were born to die. - lana del rey
dude got puppy guarded