Butterflies drink tears straight out of turtles' eyes to survive in incredible footage

(Credit: Phil Torres)

Butterflies drink the tears of turtles, sweat and human urine to survive in harsh environments and an explorer has captured incredible footage to prove it.

The beautiful creatures will drink just about anything as they fight for survival in the nutrient-poor Amazon rainforest.

Although the Amazon has plenty of water, the butterflies are actually seeking out sodium in their quest for the perfect drink.

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Insect expert Phil Torres, often referred to as the Jungle Guy, posted footage of the butterfly turtle tear-drinking phenomenon to his Twitter page.

The butterflies are said to view the eyes of turtles as a sodium source as tears are known to be very salty.

Male butterflies need sodium in order to have the energy to woo females.

Salt can be hard to come across in the Amazon as it is so far from the ocean and butterflies are herbivores so struggle to get enough salt from plants.

Torres also recently posted evidence of butterflies drinking human urine to his YouTube channel.

(Credit: Phil Torres)

The explorer starts the video by explaining that someone urinating at the edge of a river that he was nearby had attracted a lot of butterflies.

He goes on to say: "If you never thought a puddle of urine on the side of the river could be a beautiful thing just wait 'til you see this."

Torres then filmed the insects frolicking in slow motion on the banks of the Amazon.

The swarm can be seen digging their tongues into the sand and drinking the human pee.

Torres says all the butterflies were male and were taking advantage of the new source of sodium as human urine, like turtle tears, contains salt.

The footage also shows that the butterflies can drink the concoction of excess salt, absorb its nutrients and then turn the human urine into 'butterfly pee' in a matter of seconds.

This story originally appeared in The Sun.