Return of A Vicious Attack by A Butterfly Column

Perhaps some of our readers may recall my column of May 18th last year "Vicious Attack by A Butterfly", the unusual story told to me by a friend, Pamela Anderson (no relation to the movie actress), where she was attacked by a butterfly and what she thought it was all about and why it happened to her. I also sent the story to the editor of Outdoors New England, a periodical publication of the New England Outdoor Writers Association, a professional writers group that I’ve been a member of for nearly 30 years. A professional entomologist, Arthur Buckman, read the story and submitted his opinion concerning the incident of Pam’s experience. I thought his opinion was interesting and worth putting the two together for our readers to enjoy.

Attacked by A Butterfly
An experience of Pamela Anderson of Ontario, California

Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a water puddle on the path ahead. I decided to angle my direction to go around it, onto the part of the path that wasn’t covered by water and mud. As I reached the puddle, I was suddenly attacked by a butterfly! I did nothing because the attack was so unpredictable and from a source so totally unexpected.

I was startled, as well as unhurt, despite having been struck four or five times. I backed up a foot or two and my attacker stopped attacking me. I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again, ramming me in the chest with his head and body, striking me over and over again with all of his might.

Monarch Butterfly

For the second time, I retreated a step while the butterfly relented in his attack. Again I tried to move forward and the butterfly charged me, ramming me in the chest over and over again. I wasn’t sure just what to do, other than retreat a third time. After all, it’s not every day that a person is attacked by a butterfly! This time though, I stepped back several paces to look the situation over. My attacker moved back, as well, to land on the ground. That is when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier.

The butterfly had a mate and she was dying. She lay beside a big puddle of water where he landed. Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings several times as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. Even though I was so much larger, he attacked to prevent me from stepping on her. He just wanted to give his dying mate a few more precious moments of life.

Now that I knew why and what the butterfly was fighting for, there was really only one option left for me. I carefully made my way around the puddle to the other side of the path, even though it was only inches wide and extremely muddy. The butterfly’s courage in attacking something that was thousands of times larger and heavier than himself, just for his mate’s safety, justified it. He had truly earned those moments to be with his mate, undisturbed. I left them in peace for those last few moments, cleaning the mud from my boots when I later reached my car. 

Since then, I’ve always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever see huge obstacles facing me. I use that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.

Response to Pamela’s Experience

By entomologist Arthur Buckman, formerly of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Mr. Buckman has worked for three decades as a natural resources manager in the northeastern United States and Pacific Ocean region.

I don’t doubt it all happened, but think it was misinterpreted (anthropomorphism). The protecting-a-mate part has no basis to my knowledge. That’s a much higher order function usually associated with vertebrates.

Wing fanning is common and likely a mating-attraction activity, often seen around areas of aggregation (puddles). An odd (and artificial) aggregation site for some insects is a white shirt lying in an open field. Flies (gnats, etc.) often hover above by the thousands. The person relating the story may have been wearing a light-color coat in an otherwise darker landscape and served as a potential aggregation site. This is a little like a fly or moth bouncing off a light bulb at night.

On the protection side of the color equation, honeybees may attack large dark objects that are too close to their hive (ie., bear-like objects), which is why beekeepers wear white. This is millions of years in the making and associated with "social" insects such as bees and wasps. Butterflies don’t have social structures. One outside possibility is that the hiker (Pam) had perfume or bug repellent on her that messed with the insect’s pheromone receptors. Repellents don’t actually repel, but more accurately disrupt the receptors so that the target isn’t recognized.

Bottom line: Haven’t heard of this (or at least being interpreted as attack/protection). There are millions of monarchs in the Sierra Madres with people walking through them (over wintering population). Butterflies just flutter and land on you from what I’ve seen. 

An interesting point by Mr. Buckman. Although his point may be scientifically true, I prefer Pam Anderson’s romantic assessment of her encounter. How about you?




Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at: outwriter2@aol.com

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