National Moth Week Moth Information,News & Updates Greater Wax Moth Can Hear Highest Sound Frequency

Greater Wax Moth Can Hear Highest Sound Frequency

 

Galleria mellonnella

Galleria mellonella 
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This article ran last week on LiveScience – The Greater Wax moth, a common Pyralid found in North America, Europe and Asia, can hear sounds up to 300 kilohertz – the highest known sound frequency. This is about 100 khz higher than bats can hear and our human ears can hear sounds up to only 20 kHz.

James Windmill, a bioacoustician at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, and his co-authors hypothesize that the moth’s ultrasonic hearing might help it avoid predators.

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