Vampire Moths, Human Blood Sucking Insect. Animals that suck human blood are familiar to all of us. If asked to name an example of an animal with this behavior, the answer may not be far from mosquitoes, fleas, or leeches.
Vampire Moths, Human Blood Sucking Insect
But besides these animals, it turns out that there are also moths that suck human blood. The human blood-sucking moth referred to here is a vampire moths of the genus Calyptra. Of a total of seventeen known species of the genus Calyptra, as many as eight of them live on the blood of mammals.
However, only two of them are known to eat human blood. The two species are Calyptra fletcheri and Calyptra thalictri. Like moths in general, vampire moths have a slightly stout-looking body with four broad wings.
Vampire Moths, Human Blood Sucking Insect
This moth has a brownish body with a front wing motif that looks full of wrinkles. When this moth folds its wings, it looks like a dry leaf, making it difficult for predators to find it.
Moths of the genus Calyptra can be found on almost all continents except Antarctica, but bloodsucking species can only be found in East Asia, Southeast Asia, India, and Russia and Southern Europe.
Since the 2000s, vampire moths have also been found in Northern European countries such as Finland and Sweden. The wider spread of vampire moth habitat is thought to have occurred due to global warming and warming of the earth's surface.
Video Of Moths in Nature
In contrast to other blood-sucking animals such as leeches, which make blood the only food. Although vampire moths suck blood, blood is not the only food they consume. When it does not feed on blood, vampire moths survive by sucking on fruit juices and flower nectar.
Has a sharp but flexible mouth
The vampire moth has a long, flexible mouth called a proboscis. When not in use, the moth's trunk is curled up.
The vampire moth has the tip of a trunk that is sharp like a needle. With the sharp tip, the vampire moth can penetrate the skin of the fruit to suck the liquid that is in it.
Vampire Moths, Human Blood Sucking Insect
The vampire moth can also use the tip of its trunk to prick the skin of humans and mammals before sucking the blood of its victims.
When it sucks blood or juice, the vampire moth shakes its head to deepen the trunk. Vampire moths take up to 50 minutes to suck blood.
For some people, this moth bite can cause a sore and swollen feeling that doesn't heal up to 24 hours later. Fortunately, vampire moths are not animals that can transmit dangerous diseases to humans.
Only male vampire moths have blood-sucking behavior. In contrast, female vampire moths drink only the juice and nectar of flowers.
Scientists suspect that this difference in eating behavior occurs so that the male can absorb the salt component in the blood and then store it in his sperm.
Vampire Moths, Human Blood Sucking Insect
That way, when the male fertilizes the female's eggs, the offspring will have no problem with sodium deficiency as the moth larvae only eat leaves.
In the case of larvae, vampire moths undergo a complete cycle of metamorphosis, which means that these animals undergo four phases in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult moth phases.
Female vampire moths usually lay eggs on plants of the genus Thalictrum because their larvae feed on the plant's leaves.
The vampire moth larvae of the species Calyptra thalictri have a light green, or white body with black stripes and spots.
Referring to the life cycle of Calyptra canadensis, a member of the genus Calyptra, which does not feed on blood, the vampire moth caterpillar appears to take 4 to 5 weeks before turning into a black cocoon.
After two weeks, the adult moth will emerge from the cocoon. A vampire moth can have a wingspan of up to four centimeters. By: Ochie
2 comments
Nice, well written and informative.
ReplyThank you Martamus, Nice to meet you.
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