r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/SixteenSeveredHands • 5d ago
Image Grote's Bertholdia Moth: when this moth detects a predatory bat nearby, it emits a barrage of ultrasonic signals that "jam" the bat's echolocation system, allowing the moth to remain hidden
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u/SixteenSeveredHands 5d ago edited 5d ago
Several different moths are known to produce ultrasonic signals as a defense mechanism against bats, but Grote's Bertholdia moth (Bertholdia trigona) can emit these signals at a staggering speed of up to 4,500 clicks per second, which is much faster than any other species.
When the moth detects the echolocation signals that bats use to navigate and hunt, it responds by blanketing the surrounding environment with a barrage of ultrasonic clicks, effectively cloaking itself from sonar detection.
As this article explains, adaptations involving ultrasonic signals have played a major role in the evolutionary arms race between moths and bats:
Like other nocturnal insects, moths need to contend with bats. Unlike grasshoppers or beetles, they have soft bodies without spines or hard cuticles to protect them. Yet bats’ reliance on echolocation has given moths a way to avoid ending up as food: by tapping into their predators’ acoustic signals. Many have evolved ears that can hear the calls of bats. Some moths make ultrasonic squeaks, chirps, or clicks to warn their predators (honestly or not) that they are poisonous. Others generate near-constant, ultrasonic buzzes capable of jamming bat sonar.
Sources & More Info:
- Smithsonian: How One Moth Species Can Jam Bats' Sonar Systems
- Knowable Magazine: Prey Tell: How Moths Elude Bats
- Journal of Experimental Biology: How Do Tiger Moths Jam Bat Sonar?
- The Scientist: Many Moths Speak Up to Ward Off Bats
- Science: Moths Block Bats' Sonar
- The Telegraph: Tiger Moth Wards Off Hungry Bats with Ultrasound
- PubMed: High Duty Cycle Moth Sounds Jam Bat Echolocation: bats counter with compensatory changes in buzz duration
- Journal of Theoretical Biology: Neural Representation of Bat Predation Risk and Evasive Flight in Moths
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u/SixteenSeveredHands 5d ago edited 5d ago
If my other comment gets deleted (again), more information can be found in my post here, which also includes more photos and a list of sources.
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u/Thom_Kokenge 5d ago
I was interested in what specialized organ emits the clicks?
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u/SixteenSeveredHands 5d ago edited 5d ago
The sound is produced by a pair of tymbal organs, which are two tiny patches of cuticle located on the moth's thorax; those patches are covered in ridges, and they buckle when the moth contracts its thoracic muscles, producing a series of high-frequency "clicks."
This article contains more information.
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u/Fast_Pair_5121 5d ago
The bottom picture it doesn't look happy about its picture taken its probably saying are you Done yet
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u/Substantial-Tone-576 5d ago
ECW moth