Natural History Wanderings

Bat Conservation International‘s newsletter recently had an article A Tiger Moth’s Secret Weapon that discussed how bats use echolocation (biological sonar) to track insects in the dark. Insects have developed countermeasures such as biological “bat detectors:” ears tuned to hear the high-frequency calls of bats. This allows the insects to do evasive aerobatics to avoid the bats. New research shows that at least one tiger moth, Bertholdia trigona, produces ultrasonic “clicks” that  disrupt, or jam, bats’ echolocation. Read the article on this research in the Bat Conservation International’s newsletter at: A Tiger Moth’s Secret Weapon.