One kind of female butterfly mates only once in its life —and then closes its wings to avoid
"harassment" when pursued by persistent and unwanted males, a Japanese researcher said.
Observations of the Small Copper Butterfly, a colourful orange and black butterfly, showed that some
females closed their wings when males flew by, but only when they were males of their own species, said
Jun-Ya Ide, an associate professor at Kurume Institute of Technology in Fukuoka, western Japan.
"When we looked into why, the males were courting the females. They do this very stubbornly, so the
females sometimes try to get away-or prefer to stay unobserved," he added.
Ide and his colleagues brought a model of a male butterfly near the females to test their reactions and
found that young females that had yet to mate kept their wings open, but those that had already mated
closed them.
Not only can the persistent attentions of unwanted suitors harm the delicate females, fleeing from them
—with the male often in pursuit —uses up strength and can even shorten their lives, he added.
"Closing their wings makes them less visible, helping them avoid communication with their own species. We figured they were trying to avoid harassment by males," Ide said.
1. What does the word "harassment" mean in the paragraph?
A. sexual invasion
B. embarassment
C. attack
D. threat
2. Why some some females closed their wings when males flew by?
A. because the female butterfly mates only once in its life.
B. because they close their wings to avoid "harassment" when pursued by persistent and unwanted
males.
C. because they don’t like the male butterfly at all.
D. because they are afraid of the male butterfly.
3. According the the passage, which is correct?
A. The females closed their wings when males flew by.
B. The female butterfly mates only once in its life.
C. Only the model of a male butterfly can make the young female butterflies to keep their wings open.
D. Not only can the persistent attentions of wanted suitors harm the delicate females, fleeing from them
—with the male often in pursuit -- uses up strength and can even shorten their lives.
