While crossing the Los Amigos River in southeastern Peru, scientific researcher Mark Cowan happened to witness an extremely interesting moment.
Proud of the beautiful butterflies perched on his head, on his face, the death crocodile smiled happily, as happy as a landowner with a good harvest.
Cowan saw butterflies perched on the head of a Caiman crocodile . (Source: Caters News Agency)
Caiman the crocodile is quite gentle. However, when it saw more and more butterflies on its head, it began to show discomfort. (Source: Caters News Agency)
‘I was really surprised when I saw that scene. Many people, after seeing the photo, think it’s a Photoshop editing product.’ (Source: Caters News Agency)
The crocodile must have thought that she was a beautiful crocodile princess, no need to dance and smell like Princess Ham Huong, it still attracts butterflies. (Source Sina)
In nature, there are also many photographers who capture interesting moments like this. (Source Sina)
According to scientists, this phenomenon is called lachryphagy which literally means “drinking tears”. (Source Sina)
To explain why butterflies drink crocodile tears, scientists say that because insects like butterflies and bees suck nectar to feed their bodies, the nectar does not contain salt, but salt is an essential ingredient for egg laying and metabolism. (Source Sina)
Meanwhile, crocodile tears contain a lot of sodium and minerals, which are hard to find in nature, helping to supplement the amount of salt that butterflies need. (Source Sina)
In fact, butterflies are not attracted to the “beauty” or characteristic scent of crocodiles, they simply want to drink crocodile tears. (Source Sina)
However, scientists still cannot explain why the crocodiles seem so interested and happy when the beautiful butterflies bother and take advantage. (Source Sina)
Crocodiles never hurt the butterflies but, on the contrary, are extremely happy to welcome these beautiful guests. (Source Sina)