Musical+Membranes+-+Tiger+Moths

=Arctiidae - The Tiger Moths=



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Classification
The Tiger Moths are classified under the family Arctiidae. A large group of 11,000 species (found on every continent save Antarctica [ 1 ]),in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The majority of Noctuoidea species fly at night and are attracted to lights. There is a good chance the majority of moths seen flying around lights at night are in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The Latin name Arctiidae is easy to remember if you know any Greek, αρκτος (the root for Arctiidae) is Greek for “a bear”. Their larva are covered with hairs much like a bear is, a very wooly bear that is. Arctiidae is sister to Lymantriidae [ 2 ] a family known for their larvae that have irritating hairs [ 3 ].



Identification
Moths and butterflies within the family Arctiidae can be identified by a few key features. Most distinctive are tymbal organs on the metathorax, and the “wool” on the larvae (commonly known as wooly bears and thereason for the family name). Less distinctive is the wing venation and a pair of pheromone glands near the ovipositor [ 1 ]. Many species utilize metabolites from their food to create aposematic chemicals for protection from predators; this is not a synapomorphy of the family as many other families of Lepidoptera exhibit similar behavior. Moths within the family Arctiidae use their tymbals to communicate with potential mates. Arctiidae have “ears”, or tympanals, on their thorax. They also use their tymbals to warn other species that they are not palatable. The sounds they make are mostly inaudible to humans but can be heard with special equipment and have been an area of interest in the scientific community for some time.

Moths V. Bats
Much research has shown that tiger moths simply react to bat echolocation with a warning that says “don’t eat me I taste bad”, this is called an aposematic warning (similar in function to brightly colored insects and just as subject to batesian mimicry) [ 4 ]. There are two other hypotheses that also have received some attention. The first hypothesis is the possibly ancestral behavior of creating noise to startle hunting bats and cause them to miss. This is likely a transitional behavior has bats would habituate to the sounds and begin to attack moths that made startling sounds [ 5 ]. The second and recently supported hypothesis is that some tiger moths have evolved to “jam” bats radar [ 4 ]. One particular species, //Bertholdia trigonia//, of palatable tiger moth was found produce sounds that effectively confused Big Brown Bats, //Eptesicus fuscus//, echolocation mechanism [ 5 ].

//Bertholdia trigona[[image:fieldzoologyuvm/Bertholdiatrigona.jpg width="357" height="276" align="right" caption="Fig4: Bertholdia trigona individual during an acoustic experiment. "]]//
//Bertholdia trigona// is found in western North America, from central Mexico up to the mountains of Montana. They are commonly found in mountainous regions. Adults are active in the summer months and individuals overwinter in the larvae stage. The species doesn’t have a profound impact on the environment. The larvae feed on algae, moss, lichens, and small plants. Adults feed on nectar. They are nocturnal like the majority of other moths in the family. Aside from their ability to jam bats radar this little creature is an excellent flyer [5].

= Further Reading. = [|www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/moths-bats-ultrasound-genitals-defense_n_3561227.html] [|www.beautifulwildlifegarden.com/tiger-moths-and-woolly-bears-oh-my.html] Barber, J. R., & Kawahara, A. Y. (2013). Hawkmoths produce anti-bat ultrasound. Biology letters, 9(4), 20130161.

Figures
Fig1-Photo by Ian Kimber from ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1470 Fig2-By unknown from wunderground.com Fig3-By unknown from http://stuckinabucket.tumblr.com/post/61144387908/okay-so-this-is-new-right-i-mean-not-new-new Fig4-By Aaron Corcoran from www.sonarjamming.com/