Calyptra thalictri
| Calyptra thalictri | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Calyptra |
| Species: | C. thalictri |
| Binomial name | |
|
Calyptra thalictri (Borkhausen, 1790) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Calyptra thalictri is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is native to the area ranging from Japan and Korea, south to China and Malaysia, west through the Urals to Southern Europe, but it has recently expanded its range to northern Europe. In 2000, it was observed in Finland and in 2008 it was recorded even further west, in Sweden.
It is often referred to as the vampire moth (although this common name is also used for other members of the Calyptra genus), referring to their ability to drink blood from vertebrates, including humans, through skin. However, the moths are not thought to cause any threat to humans.
The wingspan is 40–45 mm. The moth flies from May to September depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Thalictrum species.
This species feeds only on fruit, but during experiments when Russian moths were offered human hands, they drilled their hook-like tongues under the skin and sucked blood. Some moths can suck blood for up to 20 minutes. This is an example of a phenomenon called mud-puddling, in which males aggregate on specific substances to obtain nutrients. Only male moths suck blood. This behavior seems to have evolved so that they may pass on salt to females during copulation, providing a nutritional boost for young larvae who feed on leaf-rich but sodium-poor diets. Blood feeding may have also evolved from animal-related behaviors like feeding on tears, dung, or pus-filled wounds. The increase in blood sucking behavior of these moths is related to the advantage of providing sodium to females to pass on to their offspring. Research has seen morphological changes that reflect this behavior. The number of olfactory sensilla is reduced in C. thalictri males that took a blood meal compared with those that did not in a research environment. The selectivity of sensilla coeloconica olfactory sensory neurons was investigated and demonstrated sensitivity to fifteen vertebrate-related volatiles, including ammonia. The reduction in olfactory sensilla sensitive to vertebrate-related compounds may be correlated to an increase in the likelihood of a male C. thalictri to take a blood meal, leading to sexual selection of such males and an increase on the blood-sucking behavior in the C. thalictri population.
...
Wikipedia