Moth Defenses Against Bats Flashcards
What is acoustic Aposematism?
A form of aposematism (the advertisement of warnings and defense mechanisms) which uses acoustic rather than visual cues to warn predators of defense mechanisms. this used among tiger moths against bats at night, since the strong colors are rendered useless by the bat’s mode of perception.
What is fascinating about acoustic aposematism in non-toxic species?
There is such thing as acoustic mimicry, a batesian form of mimicry which copies only sound.
Where do moths usuallly have their hearing organs and how many moths have hearing organs?
Moths usually have hearing organs on their thorax or abdomen, more than 80,000 moth species have hearing organs.
How do some hawkmoths use their hearing organs or acoustic-related organs to fend off bats?
Amazingly, hawkmoths use inver
What organ do tiger moths use to produce sounds which are aposematic?
An organ located right behind the rear legs called the tymbal. It produces ultrasound at bats.
How do hawk moths produce sound to avoid bats?
Surprisingly, hawkmoths use their genitals to make ultrasound. There are patches on the male genitalia which rub and strigilate afainst the last abdominal segment of the moth as it flies.
Why do hawkmoths make these sounds?
They use this sound to create a blast of ultrasound which jams the sonar of bats and confuses them so as to avoid them before an attack. hawk moths know when to deploy this sound because they too have hearing organs.
Do wild silk moths (saturniidae) have hearing organs?
No they do not have hearing organs, do not have sound production, do not have toxins, and have no mouthparts.
So what is another way to avoid bats without having the same sensory capabilities and range of understanding?
Moon Moth (Actias Maenas), use their tailed wings, whose tails float behind and spin like a fan, to lure the bat not to their bodies but their on-essential tails. In a study of sonar levels, it was observed that there is a fair amount of sonar coming out tof the tail of a luna moth. This deflects bat echoes. It was observed that 80% of those who had their tails cut off were eaten by bats and only 30% of those who did have tails were eaten by bats.
What is another study regarding moth defenses towards bats?
In some species of particularly hairy moths, the anount if fur actually muffles and absorb the sonar.
