OKLAHOMA CITY — A recent study from a scientist at the Oklahoma City Zoo is investigating the "Marie Antoinette" phenomenon in Monarch butterflies.
The phenomenon allows the butterflies to temporarily function without a head.
The paper was published in the American Entomologist by Dr. Emily Geest.
“When it first showed up, I thought, ‘Well, that’s weird.’ And then it kept showing up, which means maybe there’s something to this,” Geest said. “The big question is: is this because they’ve lost their heads, or is it genetics?”
Geest initially dismissed the "zombie Monarch" — believing it to be one in a million.
However, she realized with millions of butterflies around, one in a million isn't that rare and there's past evidence of other butterflies exhibiting this behavior.
"An 1879 article in the journal Nature describes a Painted Lady that was able to lay eggs a day after a bird removed its head, lending credence to the idea that it can be caused by trauma," said a press release from the OKC Zoo.
Geest said it isn't a mystery how butterflies are able to function without a head because they have decentralized nervous systems.
“If one piece is lost, the body and nervous system can continue functioning, albeit for a short time—the insect has a substantially reduced capability to avoid predation and find food, and no ability to ingest any food it may stumble upon,” she wrote in her paper.
Headless butterflies can't live for too long, however, because they need their heads to orient themselves during migration and are sensitive to pressure from changing weather. They also need their head to eat.
“It’s weird and it’s strange, but that’s insects,” Geest said. “It highlights how unique invertebrates are from vertebrates.”
Read the full paper here.
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