Latest Lepidoptera Stories
Butterflies seem able to both attract mates and ward off predators using different sides of their wings, according to new research by Yale University biologists.Trying to find the balance between these two crucial behaviors is one of nature's oldest dilemmas, according to Jeffrey Oliver, a postdoctoral associate in Yale's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and lead author on the study, which appears online today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological...
Butterflies are the image of beauty, grace and harmlessness. However, one type has learned parasitic behavior: they fool ants giving them the royal treatment.The pupa of the Maculina rebeli butterfly emits an aroma that impersonates the ant's smell, and thus habituates inside the ant nest. Once a caterpillar, they even plead for food similar to the ant larvae, researchers announced in Friday's publication of the journal Science.Even more than that, not simply satisfied with food, the...
Experts say a plague of caterpillars devastating part of West Africa is not armyworms, as previously believed, but an unidentified species.The BBC reported that the insects in Liberia and Guinea were very different from armyworms, according to a UN emergency coordinator.The insect has distinct feeding patterns, life cycle, habits, movement and appearance and specialists are studying the pest to find a way of controlling the swarm, which has affected 400,000 residents.The infestation has...
Hordes of caterpillars are destroying crops and vegetation in northern Liberia, posing a threat to food security, the United Nations said. The situation in Liberia is a national emergency and likely will escalate into a regional crisis involving Guinea, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire, Winfred Hammon, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization representative, said in a news release. The agency has created a task force to assess the situation, prepare an action plan and develop medium- and...
New tires allow race cars to take tight turns at high speeds. Hind wings give moths and butterflies similar advantages: They are not necessary for basic flight but help these creatures take tight turns to evade predators."To escape a predator, you don't have to be fast, you just have to be more erratic," said Tom Eisner, a world authority on animal behavior, ecology and evolution and the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Chemical Ecology at Cornell. Eisner is co-author of a...
The National Trust stated that UK wildlife is struggling to cope as erratic and unseasonal weather has taken its toll for a second consecutive year.Birds, mammals and particularly insects have all suffered from a cold, late spring, a wet summer with little sunshine and a long, dry autumn, they said.Known species under threat from the drastic weather changes include puffins, marsh fritillary butterflies and lesser horseshoe bats. Another wet summer in 2009 could also severely affect...
Scientists are discovering that bees can be good for plants in more ways than one.German researchers have discovered that the flapping of bees' wings scares off caterpillars, reducing leaf damage.Many wasp species lay their eggs in caterpillars, and so caterpillars have evolved to avoid them. The sounds of bees' and wasps' wings are similar.Researchers suggest this is an added bonus of having bees around, as well as the pollination they provide.The scientists wrote in the journal Current...
Residents of a central Australian town say millions of caterpillars have invaded their homes and yards, plaguing them the past 18 months. Yandaran residents said the black processionary -- a description of the way they travel -- caterpillars are everywhere in the town and can cause skin irritations, The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday. Rashes, dermatitis to people who suffer from severe allergies and going into anaphylactic shock, resident Karon Carr said of the health...
At the Oceanfront, one set of visitors arrives late in the summer and hangs around long after Labor Day. They'd be the perfect visitors to extend the tourist season, except they are birds. Called sanderlings, these buff and white critters arrive en masse in late August. Many stay all winter because they find our cold weather beaches and Oceanfront dining to their liking. These late summer arrivals that turn more pale and gray as they lose their breeding plumage are so familiar to August and...
By Denis Cuff It was one small flight for a butterfly, but one giant leap for a species. Butterfly No. 15 emerged from her foam cup home and fluttered off into the wild in the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Preserve on Friday morning, during the first release of endangered Lange's metalmark butterflies reared in captivity. No. 15 was one of 30 pregnant butterflies released by a team of biologists in a last-ditch effort to save the fragile orange-brown- and-white species that lives in one...
Latest Lepidoptera Reference Libraries
The Plutella xylostella is often referred to as the Diamondback or Cabbage moth. This species is has a brief lifespan of only 14 days and is thought to have originated in the Mediterranean region of Europe, but has since dispersed across the world. This species is capable of reproducing quickly and can travel great distances. Diamondback are considered serious pests in warmer climates when the absence of a harsh winter prevents their eggs from being destroyed. The moths are resistant to...
The Argema mittrei, more commonly known as the Comet or Moon Moth, is an endangered species. It is a native of Madagascar and that is the only place where one can observe them in the wild. This large silk moth can be bred in captivity and is one of the world's largest moths. Males have an average wing span of nearly 8 inches and a tail span of almost 6 inches. The lifespan of an adult moth is only 4-5 days and they are capable of reproduction from day 1. Their cocoons are uniquely...
The Agrotis infusa or Bogong moth is a species of nocturnal moth that in spring will swarm in great numbers around public buildings in Canberra, Australia. They are commonly found in Southern parts of Australia featuring a wingspan of one and three quarters inches and are brown or black in color with stout bodies covered with long thick scales. Larvae are often called cutworms and feed on a variety of plants of which they "cut" pieces and carry them back to their burrows for food. Adult...
The Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia), also known as the Eyed Tiger Moth, is a moth of the Arctiidae family. It is distributed throughout the southern and eastern United States from New England to Mexico. This species has a wingspan of 3 inches. The wings are bright white with a pattern of neat black blotches, some hollow and some solid. The abdomen is dark blue with orange markings. The male has a narrow yellow line on the sides. Its legs have black and white bands. Adult moths...
The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus), is a member of the Saturniidae (giant silk moths) family. It is a tan colored moth, with an average wingspan of 6 inches. Its most noticeable feature is the large purplish eyespots on its two hind-wings. The eyespots are where the moth gets its name - from the Greek myth of Cyclops Polyphemus. The caterpillar of the Polyphemus moth can eat 86,000 times its weight at emergence in a little less than two months. The life cycle of the moth is much...
