Tuesday, June 18, 2013

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!

10 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Once again, I've learned something here!

HermitJim said...

Hey Gorges...
More than happy to share whatever I find! Glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for coming over today!

Sixbears said...

New one for me too.

We got some moths around here the size and shape of bats. I wonder if that's a defence too?

Chickenmom said...

Like Sixbears, we have huge moths here and are size of an old silver dollar. Plenty of bats, too. Lemon pie? I'll be the first on on the patio!

Momlady said...

Wish I had some bats around here although some people think I have bats in my belfry, if you know what I mean.

linda m said...

I didn't know that - thanks for the lesson. Sure hope our mosquitoes don't catch on to that one or we are doomed. We are having a bumper crop of the little buggers due to all the rain. Coffee outside with lemon pie sounds good to me.

JO said...

I didn't know that either. Maybe its time to expand my reading areas. It sure is interesting.

I'll brave some heat to be with good friends for coffee, and of course pie

Dizzy-Dick said...

Bats like to fly over my "swamp" and feast on any bug that takes off from there. The fish eat most of the larva, so the bugs are not as bad as you would expect.

Mamahen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HermitJim said...

Hey Sixbears...
That very well could be! Pretty smart critters!

Thanks for coming over!



Hey Phyllis...
The pie sure does hit the spot!

I haven't seen many moths yet this year, but maybe later.

Thanks for coming by today!



Hey Momlady...
I have heard that about myself more than once! Good company, I reckon!

Thanks for the visit today!



Hey Linda...
we have sure got a good crop of the little blood suckers already! I need some more bats!

Many thanks for coming by today!



Hey Jo...
I figured you would have already read about them!

Nature makes for a good reading subject!

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!



Hey Dizzy...
I figured the "swamp" would be a good hunting place for them.

Glad you don't have a lot of 'skeeters there!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by today!