Red Cracker Butterfly Expels Excess Water- A stunning red cracker butterfly excretes excess water

This is a Red Cracker butterfly (Hamadryas amphinome mexicana). The mexicana subspecies is found from Mexico to Colombia but in Costa Rica, it is found mainly on the Pacific slopes which is exactly where I filmed this one. It appears this butterfly is urinating but in reality, it is just excess water as butterflies can't urinate. The substance you see is almost pure water. They get their name "cracker" from the unusual noise the males make as a territorial display or as part of mating. The "red" comes from the brilliant red underside of the wings. There are nine different species of "cracker" butterflies in Costa Rica. All these species always perch on a tree/pole with their heads down.