Moth Mimicry: Using Ultrasound to Avoid Bats | HHMI BioInteractive Video

Summary

Jesse Barber's research in Gorongosa explores the intricate bat-moth interactions, a co-evolutionary battle spanning over 60 million years. Utilizing ultraviolet lamps to attract moths, Barber and his team study their anti-bat strategies, particularly the production of ultrasound to either jam bat sonar or signal unpalatability. Experiments with tethered moths and high-speed cameras reveal the moths' deceptive tactics, including Batesian mimicry, where some moths bluff their bad taste. The findings enhance our understanding of evolutionary adaptations in predator-prey relationships.

Takeaways

• 🦇 Jesse Barber studies bat-moth interactions in Gorongosa, Africa, focusing on their co-evolutionary battle.
• 🌍 This research fills in gaps in data, as Barber has previously worked in tropical regions but never in Africa.
• 🔊 Bats use echolocation to hunt, emitting high-frequency sounds to detect their prey in the dark.
• 🦋 Moths have evolved defenses, like ultrasound production, to avoid being eaten by bats.
• 🔦 To study moths, researchers attract them with UV light and record their ultrasound responses to simulated bat attacks.
• 🛠 Moths use different physical structures to produce sounds, including their thorax and modified genitals.
• 💡 Some moths use ultrasound to warn bats of their bad taste, while others jam the bat's sonar.
• 🎥 In experiments, synchronized ultrasound and video footage help analyze the moths' defense strategies during bat attacks.
• 😋 Moths that bluff by mimicking toxic species can still be eaten by bats if they do not genuinely taste bad.
• 🔄 The study adds to knowledge about evolution, showing how bats and moths are locked in an ongoing co-evolutionary arms race.

Q & A

Why did Jesse Barber come to Gorongosa?

Jesse Barber came to Gorongosa to study bat-moth interactions and to fill in important gaps in the data sets, as he had never worked in Africa before.

What is the significance of bats being nocturnal hunters?

Bats being nocturnal hunters is significant because it highlights their reliance on echolocation to navigate in the darkness, which is a key aspect of the bat-moth interaction.

How do bats use sound to find their prey?

Bats use echolocation to find prey by producing high-frequency calls and listening to the echoes from their targets to determine their position.

What strategies have moths evolved to avoid being eaten by bats?

Moths have evolved various anti-bat strategies, including the production of ultrasound above the level of human hearing to either signal their unpalatability or to jam the bat's sonar.

How do researchers attract moths for study?

Researchers attract moths by setting up lamps that emit ultraviolet light, which moths are drawn to.

What method do researchers use to determine which moths produce ultrasound as an anti-bat defense?

Researchers play recorded echolocation attacks to tethered moths and use a speaker and microphone setup to record the moths' responses.

What are the different structures moths use to produce sound?

Some moths have sound-producing structures on their thorax, while others use modified genitals at the tip of their abdomen to produce sounds.

How do moths use ultrasound to avoid being eaten by bats?

Moths use ultrasound either to signal to bats that they taste bad, acting as a warning, or to disguise their location by jamming the bat's sonar.

What experiment is set up to distinguish between moths signaling bad taste and those jamming sonar?

Researchers track wild bats hunting different moth species while recording their sounds and use high-speed cameras and ultrasonic microphones to document the interactions.

What is the role of Batesian mimics in the bat-moth interaction?

Batesian mimics are moths that imitate the sound of toxic moths to fool bats into thinking they taste bad, even though they are not.

How do researchers determine if a moth's signal of bad taste is honest or a bluff?

Researchers feed the moths to hungry wild bats and observe the bats' reactions to see if they spit out the moth, indicating it truly tastes bad, or if they consume it, suggesting the moth was bluffing.

How does the discovery of anti-bat strategies in African moths contribute to our understanding of evolution?

The discovery of these strategies adds to our knowledge of evolution by showing how random mutations and natural selection have led to the diversity of sound production strategies in moths over 60 million years of co-evolution with bats.