Moths Against The Bats...!

I'm one of those that don't have anything against bats in general. In fact, I'm glad that they do a lot in killing off the mosquito population around here.

There are some critters that have found some really cool ways to avoid becoming part of a bats dinner. One of them is the moth! Some moths have come up with some really great defense methods and I thought I would share them with you!

Moths Possess An Anti-Bat Arsenal

Bats are some of the most fascinating and well documented hunters in the animal kingdom, so being a nocturnal flying insect seems like it might as well be a death sentence. Turns out they are actually embroiled in an arms race 50 million years old. The major problem with echolocation is that the target knows you are coming as soon as you use it, just like in every submarine movie ever.

Many species of moths use this to their advantage, to the point where some of them can gauge the distance to their attacker and react with more urgency the closer they are. My favorite tactic is called “flight cessation”, otherwise known as falling.

Tiger moths take defense a step further by employing counter-measures. At nearly the last moment of the attack they will release a series of clicks in order to jam the bat’s sonar, causing them to miss as often as 4 out of 5 times in a recent study.

I only hope that the 'skeeters around here don't start taking flying lessons from those moths, know what I mean?

Let's brave the heat and have coffee out on the patio this morning. I have some lemon pie I'll share!