Malagasy birds as hosts for eye-frequenting moths

While tear-feeding in moths on mammals is widespread, there have been no reports of this behaviour in Madagascar and none on birds. We report that a moth, Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica belonging to the Calpini, a generally fruit-feeding or blood-feeding lineage of noctuids, attacks sleeping birds in...

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Veröffentlicht in:Biology letters (2005) 2007-04, Vol.3 (2), p.117-120
Hauptverfasser: Hilgartner, Roland, Raoilison, Mamisolo, Büttiker, Willhelm, Lees, David C, Krenn, Harald W
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:While tear-feeding in moths on mammals is widespread, there have been no reports of this behaviour in Madagascar and none on birds. We report that a moth, Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica belonging to the Calpini, a generally fruit-feeding or blood-feeding lineage of noctuids, attacks sleeping birds in Madagascar. This moth is able to intrude its sharply tipped proboscis into a closed bird's eye. The proboscis is characterized by a specific armoury of hooks, barbs and spines similar to that in piercing calpines but dissimilar to that in other tear-feeding moths. This is the first report of exploitation of tears by Lepidoptera from the closed eyes of sleeping birds.
ISSN:1744-9561
1744-957X
DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0581