Sluuurp - _TNY_3527
A nicely fuzzy silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia), the largest fritillary in Sweden, using that long proboscis to extract nectar from a thistle in Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park.
Did you know that the proboscis actually consists of two tubes, held together by small hooks and are separable for cleaning?
They also contain muscles so that they can control it as well as curl it up for when not in use.
Each of those tubes are inwardly concave which creates a central tube which is where the liquid is sucked up. The butterfly has a sac inside its head which it can contract and expand to create suction through the proboscis.
Sluuurp - _TNY_3527
A nicely fuzzy silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia), the largest fritillary in Sweden, using that long proboscis to extract nectar from a thistle in Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park.
Did you know that the proboscis actually consists of two tubes, held together by small hooks and are separable for cleaning?
They also contain muscles so that they can control it as well as curl it up for when not in use.
Each of those tubes are inwardly concave which creates a central tube which is where the liquid is sucked up. The butterfly has a sac inside its head which it can contract and expand to create suction through the proboscis.