r/mildlyinteresting • u/SarahHamstera • 23h ago
A pair of butterflies have been mating on my window for over 4 hours
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u/Boring_Focus_9710 22h ago
Imagine a butterfly monitoring you mating for 4h and posting on Insectnet.
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u/Significant-Cloud- 22h ago
If I can go for four hours they can post wherever they like.
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u/Lazy_Osprey 22h ago
I thought you were supposed to go to a doctor if that happens
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u/Significant-Cloud- 22h ago
Only if you take pills, right?
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u/TheGrumpiestHydra 22h ago
Right?!
Padme meme face
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u/NoFunny3627 11h ago
Former EMT, not only if you take pills, any erection that lasts more than four hours has the potential to cause long-term damage. If it's getting close to the four hour mark, Ive heard watching videos of how the swelling is ...removed, may help knock it out.but the pills make it more likely to get to that four hour mark.
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u/May_of_Teck 22h ago
These two took up residence in my corn
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u/SarahHamstera 22h ago
Now that's art. My photo is just grubby.
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u/May_of_Teck 22h ago edited 21h ago
Aw thank you, I took it a couple of days ago ☺️ Yours is not grubby but gritty, you’ve literally captured the seedy underbelly of their passion 😮💨
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u/vectorology 22h ago
That’s so decorous, using their wings to shield view of their bits doing the nasty
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u/Basemastuh_J 22h ago
Don't just stand there bring them back some Gatorade!
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u/C-D-W 23h ago
Sting would be proud.
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u/young_skywalk3r 21h ago
I get this reference
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u/KnownSpirit 21h ago
I don't :/
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u/DoveOnTheInternet 21h ago
Google "Sting tantric sex" and be enlightened
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u/BrandHeck 22h ago
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u/PandaBear905 21h ago
I work at a place with a butterfly garden. Sometimes kids will come up to me and ask why two butterflies are stuck together. I still haven’t come up with a good answer for that.
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u/The-Spirit-of-76 21h ago
That one's easy, "Go ask your parents".
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u/PandaBear905 20h ago
That’s usually my go-to answer
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u/Shoe_Soul 5h ago
Have you ever come across a “They told me to ask you” response from a kid?
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u/Pyreflies_of_MJ 18h ago
Literally just say they are mating and that's how they make baby caterpillars.
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u/ultraviolet160 15h ago
"They both ate nectar from the same flower and got stuck together in the honey but they're really delicate so dont try to bother them while they get unstuck." Normally I'm more on the side of just being honest since even kids deserve the truth and explaining the world in honest terms does nothing more than prepare them for living in the world on their own. BUT parents are weird. In their eyes not sugarcoating everything with 16 layers of lies and politeness might as well be a crime.
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u/Ambitious_Clock_8212 8h ago
I’m 41 and was at a backyard casual party with friends I’d known for years. Saw something odd flying about and said “what is that bug?!” Friend belly-laughed “whelp, that’s two dragonflies…”. Good hoot for all.
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u/kytheon 22h ago
Butterflies don't live very long, so let them enjoy.
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u/SarahHamstera 22h ago
I promise I won't disturb them
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u/lonethrowawaymoss 19h ago
don't worry, they're pretty focused right now. probably won't even notice you.
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u/Debt_Ancient 21h ago
I just looked it up and some butterflies can mate for up to 16 hours!!!
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u/olorinestel 22h ago
Any lepidopterists around? Keen to know how long mating takes on average.
Is 4 hours normal for a flutterby? Long? Short? Very intriguing.
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u/renessie 17h ago
Not a lepidopterist, but I read about insects a lot because I am simultaneously curious and terrified of them. I believe butterfly mating ranges from 1-16 hours depending on the species, and sometimes the female lays the eggs almost immediately after mating ends, so bro is literally physically blocking other males from getting a chance by remaining attached 😂
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u/JimAbaddon 23h ago
If they're not done, they're not done. Stop being a peeper and give them privacy.
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u/StarneyDude 22h ago
Most importantly, you urgently need to clean your window.
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u/SarahHamstera 22h ago
I was wondering when someone would point that out.
I will, I promise, but not until after. Give them time for a cigarette.
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u/Alternative-Green608 21h ago
Lepidopterist here!! 4 hours is actually very within the normal range for most butterflies, these are common buckeyes (Junonia coenia) and if I remember correctly they usually mate for like 1-4 hours on average but it can last much longer as well!!
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u/Real_Mall_2182 12h ago
Do they like…talk? Well, communicate in any way or is it just four hours of silence?
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u/Tablesafety 20h ago
When I was in elementary school a friend brought me a pair of mating butterflies, horrified they were stuck together. Being in actual elementary school, none of us knew what sex was yet.
My expert conclusion was they must be conjoined twins. So we found some scissors.
Yaaay, we saved the butterflies. . . . .
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u/greasymodmail_x 22h ago
those look like Meadow Browns. they're pretty common and often mate for a while.
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u/kerneldusty 21h ago
That's a Ringlet butterfly pair. They can stay coupled for a surprisingly long time.
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u/ashrocklynn 22h ago
Their bodies look kinda mothy, and the antenna is kinda fuzzy, but not nearly as feathery as I'd expect a moths to be ... Anyone able to I'd these glorious fuckers?
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u/Vampira309 22h ago
I hope you have a tiny little moth award to give them when they're done. Might be a record-breaking shag?!
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u/Safe_Praline_4156 22h ago
May want to contact a doctor if it’s been longer than 4 hours. Also mildly r/accidentalrenaissance ?
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u/All-the-pizza 21h ago
Reminds me: when I was a kid I saw two albino cockroaches the size of hot wheel cars mating or something butt to butt and when I turned on the closet light one of them dragged the other one away really fast and I wasn’t able to sleep that night because I was disturbed.
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u/Waaalkerrr 19h ago
Looks like a moth to me. Do you have a lamp on through the window? Moth love lamp.
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u/Fantastic-Swim6230 13h ago
If you've been watching this whole time and they haven't moved, I'd take that as an invitation.
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u/Honey-and-Venom 21h ago
OH IT'S THE WINDOW THAT'S DIRTY! I thought that was something the camera did. I was about to compliment the expertly executed low-fi snap shot film aesthetic
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u/SarahHamstera 21h ago
No just filth on filth. If I'd known they were coming I would have cleaned.
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u/BSticks3734 21h ago
More than 4 hours?? I thought you were supposed to talk to a doctor after that long
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u/theburiedxme 20h ago
A moth erection for over 4 hours?! If you don't take that moth to the ER right now they're gonna have to amputate that gangrenous priapism!
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u/Antimony04 20h ago
OP, male butterflies gather at mud wallows to drink up salty water. Their sperm provides the salt needed for the eggs. Can you make a shallow puddle area with some table salt added? To keep the salt from getting into your lawn or garden, maybe put some sand or sand plus loam in a small container and keep it damp with salt water.
Butterflies like to drink nectar from cut fruit, so you can draw more in and help them with their calorie needs that way.
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u/tzentzak 20h ago
Lol. I remember I visited this small zoo in the Peruvian Amazon (they had animals that were orphaned or otherwise rescued) and they also had a butterfly exhibit. The guide showed everyone these butterflies that were mating and exclaimed "This species has sex for over 12 hours!".
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u/Salute-Major-Echidna 20h ago
Maybe theyre tired. Offer them a sugary beverage. A Tupperware lid with sugar and bottle water might help
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u/poonburglar68 23h ago
And you're just watching them? That's sick.