Tiger Moths My Beloved - Tumblr Posts

helllooo

whats your favourite moth?

I can't really answer with any of my top 3 bc they'd reveal the approximate region i live in :(

They're all moths ive seen personally while mothing or that just turned up one day. On a sidenote i recommend mothing and familiarizing yourself with the moths in your region to anyone who likes moths. maybe I'll make a post with some tips!! Cuz it can help a lot with the monotony of seeing the same (normally saturniid) moths on the internet over and over

Anyways the subfamily my favourite moth is from is arctiinae (tiger moths, and other moths like wasp moths)

Some tiger moths:

And yeah!! Some fun facts:

Did u know some arctiinae moths release poisonous froth from a gland close to their eyes to protect themselves?? They're called frother moths :)

Some tiger moths can hear bats' ultrasonic echolocation sounds, and reply with their own sounds. Although it was first believed this acted like sonar jamming, we now know that for some species it's acoustic aposematism (aka the audio version of bright warning colours). And for some it's both!!

Isabella tiger moth caterpillars can overwinter mild below zero (in celsius) temperatures because they produce antifreeze

Articles about acoustic aposematism and acoustic mimicry (if you're interested):

(one) (two) (three)