Moth spotted drinking TEARS straight from a sleeping bird’s eye in unsettling new footage
- Ecologist Leandro Moraes captured the moment in November 2017 in Brazil
- In the brief clip, a black-chinned antbird can be seen snoozing on a branch
- As it sleeps, a moth perched on its head uses a proboscis to sip tears from its eye
- According to the expert, this behavior helps them get nutrients such as sodium
27
View
comments
Unsettling new footage captured in the Amazon last year just might have you double-checking the insect screens on your windows tonight.
An ecologist working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research has documented the disturbing moment a moth slurps tears straight out of a sleeping bird’s eye, using its long proboscis to pry the eyelids open.
And, while it’s rare to witness, scientists say this behaviour isn’t all that uncommon.
Ecologist Leandro Moraes captured the moment in November 17 while working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil. It might seem odd behaviour, but the expert says drinking tears can help moths to get nutrients they might be lacking
https://youtube.com/watch?v=d_HRyija0M0%3Ffeature%3Doembed
The unnerving encounter shared by Science last week is the subject of a new paper published this month in the journal Ecology.
In the brief clip, a black-chinned antbird can be seen snoozing on a branch, unaware of the moth perched atop its head.
While it at first appears little more than an innocuous insect using the bird as a place to rest, a closer look reveals something much, much creepier.
In the 19-second clip, the moth probes around the bird’s eye with its straw-like appendage, at times even pulling the sleeping animal’s eye wide open.
But, the snoozing antbird never wakes up to realize what’s going on.
Ecologist Leandro Moraes captured the moment in November 2017 while working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil.
-
Step inside the birthplace of Google: Search giant reveals… Could LIGHT be the key to finding alien life? New ‘trillion… Warm waters in the Atlantic boosted the number of killer… Up to HALF of the world’s killer whales could be killed in…
Share this article
An ecologist working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research has documented the disturbing moment a moth slurps tears straight out of a sleeping bird’s eye, using its long proboscis to pry the eyelids open
In the brief clip, a black-chinned antbird can be seen snoozing on a branch, unaware of the moth perched atop its head
While it’s only been recorded twice before, the researcher managed to spot a second such interaction just 45 minutes after seeing the first, according to Science.
‘The vertebrate tear-feeding on birds by moths is a rarely documented event, with only two known records from Madagascar and Colombia,’ Moraes explained in a new paper about the encounter.
‘In these events, the moths insert their morphologically adapted proboscis on the target species’ ocular area to feed on their tears.’
Similar behaviour has been seen in a number of different animals, with butterflies known to even sip from the eyes of basking crocodiles.
HOW DO YOU STOP MOTHS FROM INFESTING YOUR HOME?
English Heritage has drawn up a guide to stopping moth infestations based on 20 years of experience protecting historic collections from insect pests.
The top tips for preventing clothes moth infestations include:
– Check for moths in the creases, folds and behind labels of clothing
– Keep your items in vacuum bags to stop clothes moths reaching them
– Take out items from the wardrobe and give them a good shake at least once a month to disturb the moths
– Failing that, declutter your wardrobes of any clothes you don’t wear regularly
– Moths hide in dark and hidden areas, so vacuum every nook and cranny, including inside wardrobes, when you clean the home
– Avoid buying second-hand furniture, clothes and upholstery is they can contain moths or their larvae
– Moths like warm spaces: Turn off the radiators in your home once it gets warm in summer and open all the windows regularly to allow air to circulate
But, since birds are fast-moving targets, moths take the opportunity to swoop in once they’ve settled down to sleep.
It might seem odd behaviour, but the expert says drinking tears can help moths to get any nutrients they might be lacking.
‘Although one currently known moth is an obligatory lachryphagous species, most of them feed on tears as a supplementary method to obtain nutrients, mainly sodium and protein,’ Moraes explains.
And, though it’s unsettling to watch, the bird doesn’t seem all that disturbed.
Source: Read Full Article