Moth tails divert bat attack: evolution of acoustic deflection.
Adaptations to divert the attacks of visually guided predators have evolved repeatedly in animals. Using high-speed infrared videography, we show that luna moths (Actias luna) generate an acoustic diversion with spinning hindwing tails to deflect echolocating bat attacks away from their body and toward these nonessential appendages. We pit luna moths against big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and demonstrate a survival advantage of ∼ 47% for moths with tails versus those that had their tails removed. The benefit of hindwing tails is equivalent to the advantage conferred to moths by bat-detecting ears. Moth tails lured bat attacks to these wing regions during 55% of interactions between bats and intact luna moths. We analyzed flight kinematics of moths with and without hindwing tails and suggest that tails have a minimal role in flight performance. Using a robust phylogeny, we find that long spatulate tails have independently evolved four times in saturniid moths, further supporting the selective advantage of this anti-bat strategy. Diversionary tactics are perhaps more common than appreciated in predator-prey interactions. Our finding suggests that focusing on the sensory ecologies of key predators will reveal such countermeasures in prey.
Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725; jessebarber@boisestate.edu kawahara@flmnh.ufl.edu.
Jesse R
JR
Barber
Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725;
Brian C
BC
Leavell
Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725;
Adam L
AL
Keener
Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611;
Jesse W
JW
Breinholt
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH 44272; and.
Brad A
BA
Chadwell
Department of Biological Sciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725; Peregrine Fund, Boise, ID 83709.
Christopher J W
CJ
McClure
Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611;
Geena M
GM
Hill
Florida Museum of Natural History, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; jessebarber@boisestate.edu kawahara@flmnh.ufl.edu.
Akito Y
AY
Kawahara
D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002685:Chiroptera; D020387:Food Chain; D009036:Moths / Q000502:physiology*
Lepidoptera; Saturniidae; antipredator defense; bat–moth interactions