Many species of moths, which are the favorite prey of many bats, have developed all kinds of tricks to avoid being eaten. Some of them developed a sense of hearing at the appropriate frequencies and others, lacking the ability to hear, developed acoustic instead of visual camouflage solutions
מYou: Thomas Neal, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biological Sciences, University of Bristol
There aren't many better examples of two species involved in an intense struggle for survival than bats and moths. These two animals are the archetype of An evolutionary arms race, when each of them tries to outshine the other in the survival battle between predator and prey.
Bats first developed the ability resonate About 65 million years ago. By producing high-frequency "clicks" with their mouths or noses and listening for echoes as they return from objects, bats are able to "illuminate" the world around them through sound.
This feature is called echolocation and it allows bats to take advantage of hunting opportunities that are not available to other flying predators. Because of the lack of reliance on light they have the opportunity to chase and hunt nocturnal insects.
This ability exerted enormous pressure on the insects that became prey for the bats such as crickets, winged recluses and grasshoppers. Many of these insects have developed an extraordinary variety of Counter adjustments to help them survive, but in no species are there such obvious adaptations as in the moths.
Many moths have developed ears sensitive to the echolocation calls of bats. The ears allow them to hear approaching bats and take evasive action, such as hiding in foliage or flying away.
Some moths even have evolved and produce their own sounds, which alert the bats that they are poisonous. If a species emits high-frequency clicks similar to that of an attacking bat, the bat will quickly learn to associate the moth's sounds with a bad taste and stop focusing on them altogether.
The clicks of some moth species are even able to "mimic" the echolocation calls of bats. By timing their clicks to coincide with the clicks of an approaching bat, the moths are able to confuse the bat, making it difficult for it to reach its destination.
picks up sound
My colleague at the University of Bristol And I'm most interested in the defenses of earless moths. If they can't hear an approaching bat, how are they supposed to increase their chances of survival? Moths without ears had to evolve passive defenses, meaning adaptations that are present all the time, whether the moth is under threat from a nearby bat or not.
Recently, we uncovered two such adaptations in earless moth species. The first is Acoustic camouflage. This is the equivalent of visual camouflage that we see when an octopus Fits perfectly with a rock in the background, or an insect visible Just like Increased.
Antheraea pernyi, a species of earless moth, has developed sound-absorbing wings that serve as acoustic camouflage. The connector provided
To achieve this, earless moths were developed special scales On their wings and body that absorb the sound energy from the bat's echo, which causes the bat to receive a reduced echo from the moth's body. By dampening the sound in this way, the moth is able to literally disappear from the bat's "view" in the night sky.
The way these scales are able to absorb sound is quite spectacular. Each point on the moth's wing vibrates in response to sound waves, but each such area vibrates at slightly different frequencies. Working together, the moths are able to absorb sound in everything the frequencies that bats use for hunting, ranging from 11 kHz to 212 kHz.
By vibrating, the scales dissipate sound energy by converting it into kinetic energy and heat. We hope that the lessons we learned from these ramblings will help us create materials Sound absorbers thinner to line the walls of buildings such as music studios and buildings on busy residential roads, making the world a quieter place for everyone.
Deflecting attacks
Another adaptation we have identified in trees is Acoustic bait. This is the analogy for spots Eyes in fish and butterflies. The idea is to divert a predator's attack from an animal's vital body parts, such as their head, towards parts such as fins and wings that can be lost without fatal damage.
In moths, these lures take the form of elongated, distorted structures on the tips of the wings. Some moths also have long tails that end in a similar shape, known as streamer lures.
Examples of streamer baits in two different moth species. Courtesy of the author
The unique, undulating shape of these structures means that these body parts are excellent at reflecting sound, as well as scattering it at many different angles. Our research has shown that bats will attack the The streamers these and not the vulnerable body of the moth itself. This way the moth will increase the chance of surviving bat attacks and live another day.
As we uncover such fascinating new tricks, we're likely just beginning to understand all the adaptations these species have developed. There are already several Evidence of this that bats have modified their echo calls to fool insects that have ears, while it remains to be seen whether they can overcome other forms of defense such as acoustic camouflage. Moths seem to currently have the upper hand in this arms race, but bats probably have a few more tricks up their sleeves to combat them.
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