American painted lady on sage.
by J. E. Brown
When he awoke, Chuang Tzu became confused. He thought: "Am I a man who dreamed I was a butterfly? Or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?" |
We've all seen it happen. The family dog, passed out on the carpet, fast asleep, except for a galloping movement in its feet. Everyone stands around, pointing and having a good smirk at the dog's expense. "She's running in her sleep," someone says, "Continuing to do dog things."
I'm reminded of a family gathering a few years ago. My sister the veterinarian was there. She and my mother's dog were both taking a nap by the fireside. It was the cutest thing. The dog's feet were twitching. My sister's scalpel hand was twitching too. Pity I didn't have a video camera.
In late Winter 1994-95 my housemate brought his laundry in from the clothesline. While folding the laundry he found a butterfly, an American Painted Lady, native in this area, taking refuge from the cold in my housemate's clothing.
Since it was late in the day and snow was coming, we didn't kick the butterfly out, and instead I made the butterfly a simple house, using the glass dome off the anniversary clock, and a flowering plant for food. The butterfly gravitated to the flower and seemed quite happy.
The butterfly hung upside-down off the flower all night. Next morning I checked on the butterfly. To my horror, the butterfly was upside-down with its legs crossed -- apparently it had suddenly died during the night, fallen off the flower, and wedged itself between the glass and the plastic pot, balancing delicately on the edges of its wings. It wasn't entirely dead -- one foot was twitching.
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| American painted lady on sage. |
I removed the glass cover and had probed at the butterfly for a few seconds when (pop!) the butterfly leapt to its feet, as if to say "Huh? What? Who?" There was nothing wrong with the butterfly -- I had been totally fooled. We turned it loose later in the day.
Anyway, that was how I learned that butterflies sleep, and probably dream as well.
J. E. Brown studies psychology in his spare time. Recently he heard a rumor that reptiles do not dream, and wondered if any science had been done on dreaming in insects. Apparently not, if you believe the Internet! Gee, said the author, if I'm the only one who knows about this, it's my duty to publish what little I know. :^)
Copyright © 2004 J. E. Brown all rights reserved. write me here P. O. Box 1368 Los Alamos, NM USA 87544-1368