Almost certainly the first death of its kind over in Planalto, Brazil, this week as a teenager has died after injecting himself with butterfly remains mixed with water.

Davi Nunes Moreira, 14, died in hospital after his health suddenly deteriorated and he began vomiting. He told his dad he had hurt himself while playing after picking up a limp, but later confessed to medics that he mixed a dead butterfly in water and then injected the liquid into his leg using a syringe.

The one question everyone seems to want the answer to is: WHY? What could this kid have possibly thought would happen to make him inject himself with crushed butterfly remains? Did he think it would get him high? Was he trying to become some form of Spider Man? Butterfly Man? Butterman?

Apparently police are looking into whether this was some kind of online challenge, although Davi is said to have denied that before his death.

The death, probably due to toxins in the mix which could have caused Davi’s body to go into septic shock, continues to make headlines in Brazil.

Professor Marcelo Duarte, director of Sao Paulo University’s Zoology Museum and a butterfly specialist, said:

‘Butterflies have a complex biology, and the fluids present in their bodies have not been studied in depth in terms of their toxicity to humans.’

Whether the fluids present in butterfly’s bodies have been studied in depth or not, you would think it was common sense to not directly inject said fluids into your body, but I suppose young people are more complicated these days. Maybe we need explicit warnings put up? “Don’t inject butterfly remains into yourself”? If it ends up saving just one life, it could be worth it.

P.S. Can’t help but be reminded of the rugby lad who swallowed a slug because his friends dared him to, and ended up paying the ultimate price for it.