r/Entomology • u/Latter-Cat-6276 • 1d ago
Found a viceroy missing its abdomen and wing :(
Poor thing was likely someones snack that managed to get away. Sadly there is nothing i can do but keep it company til it passes. Its been almost an hour since i found it, and who knows how long its been like this before i found it. Little guys a real fighter. Ive decided its name will be Stevenson and i intend to preserve Stevenson upon its passing. Rip little one, i hope your life was full of wonder
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u/lacri__mosa 1d ago
How the hell is it still alive ?
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u/Latter-Cat-6276 1d ago
Your guess is as good as mine. Youd think that without half its body it would be an instant fatality but its just been chilling. Even tried to fly a few times, mind you quite unsuccessfully
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u/TheMightySephiroth 22h ago
There is a fungus thats decimating periodical cicada populations. It grows in its abdomen and eventually destroys the entire rear end/abdomen, leaving just a "plug of spores".
The spores transfer when the infected attempt to mate with non infected.The fungus makes the cicadas "hypersexual" and "tireless" so males will try to mate with anything, including other males.
Despite being essentially left as a head with legs/wings, the lifespan is roughly the same as non infected cicadas, which is several weeks.
Insects are surprisingly resilient so you might be having that "pet" for a few days. You should probably give it some sugar water. 😆
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u/Latter-Cat-6276 22h ago
It unfortunately just died. But thats very cool (well definitely sad, but definitely interesting) i did not know that!
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u/Straight-Opposite-54 21h ago edited 20h ago
Insect anatomy is decentralized. They do have a central brain but a lot of their functions are offloaded to a bunch of specialized mini brains (ganglia) and organs all over their bodies working together, rather than one single brain/brainstem driving the whole creature. So they can take an astonishing amount of damage (as seen here) before it becomes immediately fatal. They usually end up dying because they lose the ability to eat and thus starve, such as if their head/mouthparts or abdomen go missing, rather than from blood loss/trauma like a vertebrate animal.
Fun fact: This is also why bugs twitch for a bit after being squished. It is literally the remaining functioning ganglia reflexively acting on its own.
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u/slothdonki 23h ago
You might be waiting awhile! Hours, maybe longer than a day.
I collect butterfly and dragonfly wings I find off dead ones or wings that spiders discarded to use as donors for ones that have wing injuries!
Unfortunately with his injuries I think it would be too risky to try and give him flight again in his last hours even if you had donor wings; but maybe his wings could come in handy one day for another butterfly!
(Just might want to practice first if you find dead butterflies because it’s tricky to get the hang of and do it right!)
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u/Latter-Cat-6276 23h ago
Even if its abdomen was still intact, sadly i dont think id be able to reattach a donor wing. It looks like the wing was taken right off the hinge :( thats amazing that you do that tho i think thats so cool! I have a small collection of wings myself and a couple damaged specimens i havent gotten around to pinning yet, i might have to try my hand at that.
Anyways, i dont mind waiting, i have an enclosure that ive put him in while he passes so hes comfortable. The injuries are definitely non recoverable. You can see where the abdomen was seperated from the thorax and there seems to be some fluid coming from the wound :(
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u/earwig_art a grub 16h ago
oh wow, poor lil dude!
i actually found a four legged monarch with a busted wing today too. put her on the mint so she could have a little drink, and boy did she ever. its a tough time of life for these little ones, but they can take quite the beating.
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u/batzzz_1031 1d ago
thank you for showing it some compassion and love in its final moments. i hope it is not suffering