
Butterfly lands on Yukie Ota during the 2014 International Flute Competition in Denmark
Screen shot from NPR.org
Musicians competing in contests may get butterflies in their stomach. At the Carl Nielson 2014 International Flute Competition in Denmark, one contestant got a butterfly visit to her forehead. Yukie Ota showed her powers of concentration, continuing to perform & refusing to be distracted. She advanced to the finals in spite of the butterfly (although she did not win the finals).
A video of the butterfly event posted to YouTube received over one million hits (perhaps by butterfly enthusiasts?). Entomologists, asked to explain the butterfly behavior noted that the butterfly was extending its proboscis, presumably to imbibe sodium from the moist skin.
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About jjneal
Jonathan Neal is a retired Associate Professor of Entomology at Purdue University and author of the textbook, Living With Insects (2010).
This blog is a forum to communicate about the intersection of insects with people and policy. This is a personal blog.
The opinions and materials posted here are those of the author and are in no way connected with those of my employer.
How wonderful! Yes, butterflies can be drawn to sweat and also to body warmth 🙂 I shall now go and watch the YouTube clip!
Me, too! I’m headed to YouTube. What a fun photo. TFS