nubbsgalore: photos by jeff cremer of orange julia and sulfur yellow butterflies drinking the salty

nubbsgalore:

photos by jeff cremer of orange julia and sulfur yellow butterflies drinking the salty tears of a tracajá turtle in the peruvian amazon. sodium is a scarce resource in the western amazon, where there is little mineral content to rain water, so the butterflies have learned to get it where they can. luckily for the butterflies, the turtles don’t much mind, despite deriving no reciprocal benefit themselves. (see also: previous turtle posts)