The Terrifying Attack of the Carnivorous Tiger-striped Butterfly that Killed a Boy During a Scientific Expedition

　　 During the summer vacation of 2021, Dr. Bartlett, a European-American biologist, took his wife and two children to the Virgin Islands with a scientific expedition team. Unexpectedly, just as the family was having fun, they encountered a sudden butterfly attack. The war cost a heavy price of lives.
　　 Most butterflies are beautiful and weak, so what is it that is so powerful that it even dares to attack humans? In fact, this is not the first time that butterflies have eaten people. As early as the 1960s, people died under the wings of butterflies. This butterfly that has repeatedly shown its bloodthirsty nature is the “charming killer” – the tiger-striped carnivorous butterfly.
　　Butterflies that eat birds
　　 In early August 2021, the 42-year-old European-American biologist Dr. Elliott Barrett was invited by his classmate and friend Holm to join the scientific expedition team initiated by the famous biologist Jack Jonathan. , came to the U.S. Virgin Islands to conduct research on the savannah creatures there.
　　 There are only 120,000 residents on more than 50 islands with a total area of ​​about 350 square kilometers. Most of them live on the three main islands of St. Thomas, St. John and Santa Cruz. The remaining areas are very small, and some Even the reefs that are only exposed at low tide are covered with lush vegetation. Because they are far away from human habitation, this place is of great scientific research value.
　　 For Dr. Bartlett, this expedition was so wonderful. It was summer, and my wife and two children, who were teaching in Los Angeles, had free time. Influenced by their father since childhood, their 13-year-old daughter Laura and 9-year-old son Tom have become fans of small creatures. Naturally, they cannot miss this opportunity to go hiking in the wild.
　　 In the first few days after arriving at their destination, the expedition team had already made considerable gains and found several new species. In order to make more discoveries, they decided to move their camp away from human settlements to a small island about 25 nautical miles away from Santa Cruz Island. This island, which does not have an accurate name, covers an area of ​​less than 1 square kilometer. Only a few families living near the coast live by fishing.
　　 When everyone settled in the camp, it was already noon, and the scorching sunshine made the temperature here reach 40 degrees Celsius. The intense heat caused the team members to get into their tents to escape.
　　 Unlike adults, 9-year-old Tom was full of energy. He didn’t want to spend time in the tent like this, so he set up a bug net to go out to play. Considering that the locals said that there were no large beasts here, and even ordinary snakes were not common, Bartlett nodded and agreed to his request.
　　 Tom rushed forward with a bug box slung across his body and waving a bug net. Laura followed behind him, running around picking stems and leaves of plants to make specimens. Bartlett and his wife Anna followed slowly, arm in arm. Behind the kids. After passing through the low bushes, you can already see the boundless sea, and further on you will reach the edge of the cliff.
　　 Something was shaking in the grass close to the cliff, and it caught Tom’s attention. He gave up his pursuit and approached the object, only to find that it was the body of an ordinary waterfowl. The strange thing is that there are many butterflies landing on it, and their densely packed wings open and close as if they are squirming.
　　 “Hey! Laura, come and see, what are they doing?” Tom called his sister who was not far away. “Oh, how disgusting! These butterflies seem to be eating the corpses of water birds!” Laura said with a look of disgust after observing carefully. “How is that possible! How can butterflies eat meat?” Tom shook his head, “Wait a minute, let me catch one and see.”
　　 As he said that, Tom waved the insect net in his hand and covered the dense group of butterflies. The butterflies were “coaxed” and started flying on the spot. Several of them were already wrapped in the net. Tom proudly held the net bag, caught one of them, and observed it with his sister.
　　 This butterfly is not much different from the types they see every day, but it is more colorful, even weird, and its tiny scales shine with greasy phosphorescence in the sun. Perhaps because of its long-distance migration, its wings “flapping” are particularly powerful.
　　 “Do you want to see what this carnivorous butterfly’s mouth looks like?” Tom threw away the insect net and used his other hand to unroll its rolled-up mouthparts.
　　 “Ouch!” The boy suddenly exclaimed softly, and his whole body was shocked as if he was electrocuted. It turned out that the butterfly in his hand had inserted its silk-like mouthparts into his finger. Tom immediately felt numbness on the pricked finger, followed by heartbreaking pain. He quickly shook off the butterfly and saw that although the pricked wound was small, it left a dazzling scarlet blood spot.
　　 Laura knew that being bitten by wild animals was very dangerous, so she quickly helped her brother squeeze the wound.
　　The siege of butterflies
　　 Immediately afterwards, a terrible scene appeared.
　　 I don’t know whether they were disturbed or attracted by Laura and Tom. The group of butterflies flying in the air pounced on Tom who was at a loss. What’s even more unexpected was that a larger number of butterflies flew out from the two nearest shrubs. Butterflies of the same species join in attacking Tom.
　　 For delicate insects like butterflies, Tom didn’t take them seriously at first, but he was immediately punished. The curly stings of this kind of butterfly were like sharp awls. As long as they could fall on his skin, they would Leaving a deep wound.
　　 The alert Tom knew that he was in trouble, and turned around to run to his parents, but the butterfly group quickly caught up with him. Although he struggled desperately, more and more butterflies surrounded him, and in an instant, his naked body was covered. body, and soon the boy fell to the ground due to exhaustion.
　　 Sister Laura was stunned by the sight at first, but she soon woke up and hurriedly picked up her brother’s insect net. While trying to drive away the butterflies on Tom’s body, she shouted for her parents. The butterfly swarm seemed to be enraged, and some of them turned around and began to attack Laura.
　　 The view of Bartlett and his wife was blocked by several plants. They heard their daughter’s frightened cry for help and stood up hurriedly. The scene in front of them broke their hearts.
　　 “Tom, Laura!” Anna ignored the danger and sacrificed her life to save her children.
　　 “Anna! Go call someone!” Bartlett had experienced the mosquito storm in the Arctic and knew the horror of being besieged by a large swarm of insects. He dragged his wife back and asked her to seek help.
　　 “Laura! Move, don’t let them stop on you! Tom, you must not give up, roll on the ground!” Bartlett ran towards them, shouting orders to the children, and found a lighter from his pocket. He quickly broke off a bush branch and lit it on fire, then waved it toward the butterfly swarm.
　　 Tom obeyed his father’s order and turned his body regardless of the severe pain all over his body. However, this terrible carnivorous insect seemed to be highly poisonous and gradually made him lose consciousness.
　　 “Laura, get out of here and go back to the camp!” Bartlett drove away the butterflies on his son’s body. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that his daughter’s condition was not good, and he quickly turned around to rescue her. Suddenly, a sharp pain came. Bartlett lowered his head and found that a few scarlet dots had appeared on his shoulders at some point, and then a slight dizziness came to his head.
　　 Laura obeyed her father’s order, turned around and ran a few steps towards the camp, but was immediately caught up by the chasing butterflies. The pain all over her body made the girl unable to hold on any longer, and she finally screamed and fell to the ground.
　　 When Bartlett heard his daughter’s voice, he realized that he had made a huge mistake. He should not have separated his children in two places. In desperation, he could only temporarily leave Tom and go to rescue his daughter. However, what’s even more terrible is that the branches of the shrubs lit in Bartlet’s hands have been extinguished by violent swings, and they have lost their original deterrent to the terrifying creatures flying in the sky, leaving only a few wisps of smoke.
　　 Without any room for hesitation, Bartlett threw away the branches and took off his short-sleeved shirt and lit it. The half-cotton and half-chemical fiber fabric helped him a lot. The ignited shirt burst into flames and produced thick smoke. Under his swing, the butterfly swarm Get out of the way immediately.
　　 But how long can a shirt burn? Without his coat, Bartlett exposed more of his skin. If the rescuers didn’t arrive as soon as possible, he would also die.
　　 “Holm! Captain Jonathan!” The panic-stricken Anna ran with all her strength. When she stumbled, she realized that one of the shoes on her feet was missing. But she could no longer care about this, and immediately threw away the remaining One of them continued to call for help.
　　 “Hurry, hurry up and save the children and Elliot, they, they are being killed by a group of butterflies…” Anna, who was already out of breath, burst into tears at this time.
　　 “Butterfly?” The well-informed Dr. Jonathan had heard rumors about carnivorous butterfly insects. He knew that the Bartlett family must be in big trouble, otherwise he would not let his wife come back for help.
　　 Dr. Jonathan looked at the green smoke rising in the distance and knew that Bartlett had adopted the most correct and effective response. He said comfortingly: “Don’t worry, madam, we will bring them back, I promise!”
　　 In the clearing in the bushes, the tragedy of the scene shocked the expedition team members who arrived. Tom was curled up motionless at his father’s feet, his life and death unknown, and Laura was still rolling on the ground a few meters away.
　　 Bartlett waved the baggy shorts he wore in his hand, and dense butterflies circled around him, landing on him from time to time. There were signs of burning on the surrounding grass, which had been set alight by Bartlett out of desperation, but unfortunately no fire was ignited to help him.
　　 “Barlett, hold your breath and lie down!” Dr. Jonathan shouted to Bartlett, and then urged the person carrying the equipment behind him, “Quick! Alvin, Holm, hurry up!”
　　 Several clusters of jets were sprayed out. The white mist swept towards the besieging butterflies. They fell one after another after contacting the spray, but they still stubbornly hovered in the gaps between the sprays, causing everyone who came to rush.
　　 After a while, the butterflies had been killed until very few were left, and the strong smell of pesticides drove away the remaining butterflies.
　　 “Enough, pay attention to preserving species!” Jonathan waved his hand to stop Jurgens from chasing the spraying butterfly group.
　　 The injuries of the three people shocked the people who came to the rescue. The surface of the skin was covered with tiny red spots. Due to the digestive juice spitted out by this strange creature, the inside of the wound also showed a fatal melting state.
　　 Tom, who was attacked first, suffered the most serious injuries. He was already dying at this time. He had lost his left eye forever, half of his nose was collapsed, and his lips were almost gone. His face was covered with ulcers, and the two deepest parts even exposed his cheekbones. Bones and gums.
　　 Laura’s condition was slightly better, with almost no injuries on her face. She kept rolling after obeying her father’s orders, and she had much fewer wounds than Tom. But under the influence of this butterfly’s unique toxin, she began to realize The pain all over her body was blurry and she was still crying even in the coma.
　　 “Tom was injured too badly. I injected him with antibiotics and tetanus vaccine. There is no necessary equipment here. I can only guarantee him two hours of rescue time.” Ralph Wesson put away the syringe and then Shaking his head and sighing, he was far away from advanced medical equipment, leaving this excellent medical expert helpless.
　　 Jonathan got up and ran to the camp: “I have a satellite phone in my bag. I believe St. Thomas Air Force Base can help us!” After waiting anxiously for 45 minutes to find
　　out the truth about the killer
　　 , two helicopters with red crosses painted on them appeared. In people’s sight, fortunately, the island where the expedition team is located is located between Santa Cruz and St. Thomas, so the transportation process can be completed within two hours. Slightly different from the original plan, the medical helicopter took them directly back to the base because the facilities of the military hospital are more complete.
　　 “Mr. Bartlett and his daughter should be fine.” Lieutenant Colonel Leandro, a senior military medical officer, walked out of the emergency room and said to the people waiting outside.
　　 In fact, they were really lucky. After testing the living butterfly they brought, military doctors found its antidote. As long as they rested for a while, they should be able to recover.
　　 But disaster still befell Tom. This brave boy was attacked by too many such butterflies. The deadly toxins accumulated in his body, causing severe functional failure of multiple organs, coupled with fatal blood infections. Military doctors ultimately failed to save his young life.
　　 Dr. Jonathan analyzed the butterflies he brought back with complicated emotions. During his lifetime, he finally met the legendary “Charming Killer” and through careful research, he unveiled their mysterious veil.
　　 This rare butterfly is called the tiger striped carnivorous butterfly. It looks weak on the surface, but it is actually a ferocious and powerful predator. Its curled siphon-like mouthparts become its deadly weapon when hunting. When it pierces the prey, it , will inject their saliva containing highly toxic ingredients. Even huge bison will soon be poisoned, comatose or even die. Their saliva also has a strong corrosive effect and can melt the body tissues of prey into a liquid state for them to suck. .
　　 It is said that the discovery of this butterfly is related to a young man named Andre. In the 1960s, several teenagers went to gather wild fruits in the Minas Mountains of Brazil. Andre, who was walking at the front, was attacked by tens of thousands of butterflies. He rolled desperately on the ground and called for help, but he was saved instantly. Not being surrounded by butterflies and drowning, his companions immediately went back to ask for help. When the rescuers arrived, they used water cannons to drive away the butterflies. Andri had already been eaten away until only a skeleton was left. From then on, the tiger-striped carnivorous butterfly was named.
　　 In normal hunting, the tiger-spotted carnivorous butterfly usually eats small insects and small animals such as frogs and lizards, but some witnesses have also seen the tiger-spotted carnivorous butterfly preying on mice, rabbits, and even large animals such as pigs and sheep. In previous sightings, some hunters who went up the mountain even saw this group of butterflies preying on a giant python that was about 8 meters long. It shows how vicious they are.
　　 Tiger-striped carnivorous butterflies move in groups and are extremely sensitive to the smell of blood. As long as they smell the smell of blood, they will swarm and attack until the prey dies and is preyed upon. Because they only appear in inaccessible places, they have never attacked humans. Unfortunately, Tom disturbed the hungry butterflies this time, which led to the final tragedy.
　　 No one would have thought that such a bloodthirsty nature is hidden under the beautiful appearance of the tiger-striped carnivorous butterfly. In fact, in nature, there are many animals and plants that have beautiful appearances, but are extremely dangerous themselves. Therefore, if you see unfamiliar animals or plants in the wild, do not approach them rashly before you understand their characteristics to avoid danger.