These are the incredible images of a turtle having its ‘tears’ wiped away – by a swarm of gentle butterflies.
The group of turtles can barely see for the vast number of butterflies that surround them as they bask in the Amazon sun.
The beautiful insects are actually drinking the tears of the Yellow Spotted River turtles.
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Dozens of butterflies swarm around the yellow-spotted turtle’s face to drink its tears
The turtle appears to pull its head away as the orange and yellow butterflies take turns for a drink
The reptiles, pictured in the Amazon, were sunbathing to soak up enough energy to move
It is believed the salty liquid is needed to help them produce.
The unusual spectacle was spotted by friends Jeff Cremer, 34, and Phil Torres, 27, who run photography tours from Posada Amazonas, a rainforest lodge in Peru.
Mr Cremer, a wildlife photographer, and Mr Torres, a conservation biologist, were leading a group of tourists on a tour when they captured the amazing scene.
Mr Cremer said: ‘Finding this many butterflies on a turtle at once was a chance encounter, and an exciting one. It’s something I have been wanting to document for some time.
‘This isn’t very common in most areas of the tropics. This side of the Amazon, being so far from the Atlantic Ocean, lacks the availability of salt that other areas have.
‘So, odd behaviors pop up to likely accoItunt for this – including drinking the tears of turtles.’
The endangered yellow-spotted river turtle cannot easily brush the salty liquid away, while the insects need sodium in its diet.
In addition to sodium, tears also contain proteins that could represent a high-quality resource throughout the year.
The unusual spectacle was spotted by friends Jeff Cremer and Phil Torres who run tours around the area
The beautiful insects had a line of turtles to drink from as they sat on a log by the water
Butterflies have become specialised in tear-feeding, mainly on placid animals such as deer, crocodiles, turtles and sleeping birds.
Mr Cremer said it was unusual to see so many butterflies feeding off so few turtles.
He said: ‘While typically each turtle has only a few butterflies imbibing on its eyes at a time, these turtles may have been the only ones sunning in that area of the river so all of the butterflies swarmed on that resource.
‘The butterflies also tend to attract each other- if one butterfly is feeding, its bright colors invite other butterflies to that site to feed as well.
‘We thought it was hilarious. We’re used to one or two butterflies on a turtle which can make for a nice picture, but these turtles seem to be absolutely smothered in butterflies. This brings butterfly kisses to a new level.’
The turtles were basking in the sun to collect heat and energy for the day.
The butterflies get essential salts from the tears that they need to survive
The cold-blooded turtles were basking in the sun to collect heat and energy for the day
It is not the first time insects have been seen to feed off turtle tears.
French ecologist Dr Oliver Dangles captured a bee drinking the liquid from the same species of turtle in Yasuni National Park, in Ecuador.
However, Mr Cremer said the turtles do not seem to enjoy being fed from by bees.
He said: ‘Bees also feed on turtle eyes, which seem to really bother the turtles, but they don’t appear to mind having butterflies drink from them as much.
‘While some people have said that the turtle gets an eye cleaning in exchange, I don’t think that is very likely.
‘More likely is that this relationship is a form of commensalism, in which the butterfly benefits from the turtle, and the turtle isn’t really affected either way.
‘Butterflies in this area will do anything for salt- including drinking from your sweaty skin or backpack.
‘I’d even bet that if you laid out on one of those logs with your skin covered and your eyes open, you may get lucky enough and eventually have a swarm of colorful butterflies imbibing on your tears, too.’
A bee was previously caught on camera feeding from a turtle but Mr Cremer said the reptiles do not like it
