Project Noah Fun Fact: Bertholdia trigona

Happy National Moth Week 2017!

In honor of this year’s focus on tiger moths, our partner, citizen science website Project Noah, will be featuring a fun fact about the tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) during National Moth Week.

From Project Noah:

Moths are constantly under the threat of predation by bats, and have evolved defenses to avoid this. Some tiger moths, such as this beautiful Bertholdia trigona, can emit clicking sounds to jam the sonar of bats, allowing them to disappear long enough to escape predation (Corcoran et al. 2011). The clicks are emitted from structures called tymbal organs.

Tiger moth, Bertholdia trigona, spotted by user VanTruan at Project Noah.
Tiger moth, Bertholdia trigona, spotted by user VanTruan at Project Noah.

National Moth Week is from July 22-30. Are you participating? Please register a public or private event here: http://nationalmothweek.org/register-a-nmw-event-2017/, especially if your country or region isn’t on the map yet!

Don’t forget to submit photos of moths you spot here!

http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8841449

Read more about the Corcoran et al. study referenced above here.

 

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