Mixed signals from poisonous moths
Poisonous moths use bright red spots to warn predators to avoid them—but natural variation in these wing markings doesn't provide clear indications of how toxic individual moths might be—new research shows.
Poisonous moths use bright red spots to warn predators to avoid them—but natural variation in these wing markings doesn't provide clear indications of how toxic individual moths might be—new research shows.
Evolution
Jun 4, 2018
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41
A team of researchers with members from Poland, Australia and the U.S. has found that some types of clearwing moths fly like bees to avoid predators. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the group describes ...
Hungry moths are the bane of French wine growers' lives due to their ferocious ability to feast on vines, but producers have discovered an unexpected ally in their fight against the insects: bats.
Plants & Animals
Mar 27, 2018
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870
In the evolutionary arms race between bats and their insect prey, some moths have developed ears to detect echolocating bats and avoid being caught. Conversely, barbastelle bats are known to counter moth hearing by using ...
Ecology
Mar 14, 2018
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231
Male moths have evolved intricate scale arrangements on their antennae to enhance detection of female sex pheromones, which allows them to keep their antennae small enough to maximise flying, new research suggests.
Plants & Animals
Mar 13, 2018
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85
Moth scales, preserved in the mud of a coniferous forest lake, have been used to identify outbreaks of these insects over the past 10,000 years. This groundbreaking new technique, reported in the open-access journal Frontiers ...
Environment
Feb 22, 2018
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77
Scientists have discovered a new species of moth in northern Europe, which was previously unknown to science.
Plants & Animals
Feb 19, 2018
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51
An invasive leaf-mining moth, feeding on cornelian cherry, has been gradually expanding its distributional range from its native Central Europe northwards for a period likely longer than 60 years. During that period, it has ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 8, 2018
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6
New members have joined the ranks of the snout moths - one of the largest groups within the insect order known formally as Lepidoptera, comprising all moths and butterflies.
Plants & Animals
Jan 25, 2018
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14
Butterflies and moths, the Lepidoptera, are among the most beautiful of insects, familiar to almost everyone through thousands of different species from all around the world. But how they evolved has been something of a mystery ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jan 15, 2018
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32