Vampire Moth Discovered -- Evolution at Work

piggy submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (news.nationalgeographic.com)

A previously unknown population of vampire moths has been found in Siberia. And in a twist worthy of a Halloween horror movie, entomologists say the bloodsuckers may have evolved from a purely fruit-eating species.

Only slight variations in wing patterns distinguish the Russian population from a widely distributed moth species, Calyptra thalictri, found in central and southern Europe, known to feed only on fruit.

When the Russian moths were experimentally offered human hands this summer, the insects drilled their hook-and-barb-lined tongues under the skin and sucked blood.

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Need Directions? Ask a Moth

Vincent submitted, created time 9 months 3 days (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

Finding your way home in the dark can be tricky. But migrating moths manage to cover huge distances at night by riding high-speed gusts of wind toward their breeding site. And they don't just catch some air and hope for the best, a new study suggests: Even when the wind strays off-course, the nocturnal commuters use an internal compass to stay on track.

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Virus that selectively targets males

WFU study finds that moths mimic sounds to survive

claudia submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.wfu.edu)

In a night sky filled with hungry bats, good-tasting moths increase their chances of survival by mimicking the sounds of their bad-tasting cousins, according to a new Wake Forest University study.

To be published in the May 29 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study is the first to definitively show how an animal species uses acoustic mimicry as a defensive strategy.

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