these operations ranging between 2 and 60 minutes, after that 'the angel portrays the tentacles, drops the shell and flies away.
Sometimes the butterfly is able to contract in depth 'in the shell, trailing the two hooks firmly driven into his flesh. If this happens, or if there are few prey the angel continues to swim embracing its prey among the tentacles (cones in technical terms) for several hours. If there are other angels around hungry, Armageddon is unleashed.
Angels begin a furious battle for possession of the prey that usually ends with the victory of the angel Lucifer more 'big. If the attacker manages to snatch the prey to the first angel, these reacts furiously with violent movements of the wings, rapid extractions and contractions of the cones and furious attacks to the thief. The battle ends or when one of the contenders manages to pull the butterfly from the shell and swallow it or when the prey dies for bistrattamenti: no one wants to eat a dead prey, and the butterfly is dropped.
Limacina, meanwhile, knows only two responses to predation: or tries to escape, or stops swimming and he falls to the bottom. Both responses are, at this time of the evolutionary history of pteropods, ineffective because 'Clione and' nuoatore a much more 'agile and quick and has no problems to chase and catch prey once has localized. The angel and 'a predator so' refined that is able to absorb 90% of the carbon of to its prey and almost 100% nitrogen: the prey and 'whole "ration physiologically useful" for Clio limacina it. The carbon is converted into special fats present in abundance in the body of clione (up to more than 50% of the mass) that allow these animals to have particular reserve for periods difficult. intact these gastropods respond poorly to the lack of food because 'fasting slows greatly metabilismo, even up to twenty times, and only prey chubby can riattivarle.La presence of these special greases allows but' survival in the icy waters Arctic.
For their part, even the butterflies of the sea are exactly herbivorous. If and 'true that goal' of the contents of their intestines and 'consists of diatoms (indigestible) and other algae, and' also true that the other half 'and' consists of copepods and baby-butterflies of the sea, in other Words are cannibals and prey on their young stages, behavior absent in Clione.
The Sea butterfly and Gymnosomata, according to modern research phylogenetic groups are brothers, or are closely related with each other, more 'than they are with other gastropods, and are descended from a common ancestor. I would not be surprised if it was just the cannibal of the common tendency to convert a single species of gastropod in two who play the role of prey and predator. All changes, loss of congliglia, wings etc would in this case be attributed to a race of the Red Queen that has lasted for at least 60 million years (dating of the earliest fossils of Sea butterfly that having the shell, fossilize better) and that is based on those who are 'more' good to eat each other.
Looks can be deceiving. I opened this post describing the marine butterflies and flowers fairies. I close with butterflies cannibals and the angels of death. Pay attention to the angels. Could approach it in a blink.