Sloth moth: Difference between revisions
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Big sloth Moths are cool auhafhufuivagivadulsvCDLSUVGSdluyvcDYGUVDLSUYVCDvlyuDSLYduvlyudS56ASDFGHJKFOBRGBOGREQ NO GERNU REUNRE GPIUHREGQHNPUREGQHNPUG ERIUHEGQRUGRE HIUPNEGR HNPGVGW HPN |
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[[File:9092 - Milano - Museo storia naturale - Diorama - Bradypus trydactilus - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 22-Apr-2007.jpg|thumb|right|[[Pale-throated Sloth]] (Bradypus tridactylus)]] |
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'''Sloth moth''' is a generic term used to refer to [[coprophagous]] [[moth]]s which have evolved to exclusively inhabit the fur of [[sloth]]s and to use sloth dung as a substrate for the early stages of reproduction. |
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Certain lepidopteran moths [[snout moth]] family [[Pyralidae]] (namely [[subfamily]] [[Chrysauginae]]) have evolved to inhabit sloth fur exclusively. Typically, sloth moths follow a life-style broadly on the lines of ''[[Cryptoses choloepi]]'', a moth in the [[Pyralidae|snout moth]] family that lives exclusively in the fur of the Brown three-toed sloth ''[[Bradypus variegatus|Bradypus variegatus infuscatus]]''. Adult female moths leave the fur of the sloth to lay eggs in the sloth droppings when the sloth descends, once a week, to the forest floor to defecate. The larvae of ''Cryptoses choloepi'' live in the dung and newly emerged moths later fly from the dung pile into the forest canopy to find a host sloth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rau |first1=P |last2= |first2= |year=1941 |title=Observations on certain lepidopterous and hymenopterous parasites of Polistes wasps |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |publisher= |volume=34 |issue= |pages=355–366(12) |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/esa/aesa/1941/00000034/00000002/art00010 |doi= |accessdate=14 February 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Waage |first1=Jeffrey K. |last2=Montgomery |first2=G. Gene |year=1976 |title=Cryptoses choloepi: A Coprophagous Moth That Lives on a Sloth |journal=Science |publisher= |volume=193 |issue=4248 |pages=157–158 |doi=10.1126/science.193.4248.157 |bibcode=1976Sci...193..157W |pmid=17759254 }}</ref> |
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Chrysauginae moths, such as ''Cryptoses'' spp., spend their lives as adults in the fur of sloths, particularly the three-toed species, except when the sloths went to defecate and females flew to the sloth dung to oviposit. An imbalance in population sex ratios favouring males has been noticed and surmised as female moths not making it back to host sloths after ovipositing.<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/> |
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Sloth moths are considered to get nutrients from the secretions of the sloths' skin and/or the algae present on the fur as well as protection from avian predators.<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/> |
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Some three-toed sloths have been recorded carrying more than 120 moths in the fur of an individual sloth. Two-toed sloths are recorded as harbouring lower populations. Several different moth species may coexist on the same animal.<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/> |
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Lepidopterans belonging to the coprophagous guild that are specialised to live around sloths include: |
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*''[[Bradipodicola hahneli]]''<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology">{{cite journal |last1=Gilmore |first1=D. P. |last2=Da Costa |first2=C. P. |last3=Duarte|first3=D. P. F.|year=2001 |title=Sloth biology: an update on their physiological ecology, behavior and role as vectors of arthropods and arboviruses |journal=Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research |publisher=Ribeirão Preto |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=9–25 |url=http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjmbr/v34n1/3877m.pdf |doi=10.1590/S0100-879X2001000100002 |issn=1678-4510 |pmid=11151024}}</ref> |
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*''[[Cryptoses choloepi]]''<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/> |
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*''[[Cryptoses waagei]]''<ref name="Bradley">{{cite journal |last1=Bradley |first1=J. D. |last2= |first2= |year=1982 |title= Two new species of moths (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Chrysauginae) associated with the three-toed sloth (Bradypus spp.) in South America |journal=Acta amazon |publisher= |volume=12 |issue= |pages=649–656 |url=http://acta.inpa.gov.br/fasciculos/12-3/PDF/v12n3a17.pdf |doi= |accessdate=15 February 2011 }}</ref> |
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*''[[Cryptoses rufipictus]]''<ref name="Bradley"/> |
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*''[[Bradyphila garbei]]''<ref name="Bradley"/> |
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==See also== |
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* [[Arthropods associated with sloths]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:Pyraloidea]]<!-- might be Pyralidae only --> |
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[[Category:Invertebrates of South America]] |
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[[Category:Sloths]] |
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Revision as of 15:52, 19 March 2013
Big sloth Moths are cool auhafhufuivagivadulsvCDLSUVGSdluyvcDYGUVDLSUYVCDvlyuDSLYduvlyudS56ASDFGHJKFOBRGBOGREQ NO GERNU REUNRE GPIUHREGQHNPUREGQHNPUG ERIUHEGQRUGRE HIUPNEGR HNPGVGW HPN