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The Wild Episode


Hello and welcome to The Wild Episode - a collection of wonders, curiosities and occasionally horrors from the natural world. Check out the main website, www.thewildepisode.com, for more info and full shownotes!

May 22, 2018

The large blue butterfly (Maculinea arion - or Phengaris arion, depending on who you ask) is both beauty and the beast. Beauty because ... well, it's a pretty little butterfly, so what more could ask for? The beast because it's also such a master of deception, infiltration and carnivory it could be the antagonist in a sci fi horror movie.

So welcome to the world of a butterfly that is both parasite and predator, combining the tendencies of the cuckoo and the wolf. Oh, and it spends a chunk of its life pretending to be an ant. 

Sometimes Nature's just plain weird ...

Shownotes at www.thewildepisode.com

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