Arthropod moth
Dudusa sphingiformis
Black-rumped boat moth, belonging to the arthropods, insects, lepidoptera, boat moth family, and the genus Of the boat moth. Widely distributed in China, the photo was taken in Yingjiang.
When you see a golden dandelion, don't blow it! It is possible that this is only the hair on the buttocks of the black-rumped moth. The world is big, there are no wonders, there are many insects, and it is mysterious. For example, the black boat moth introduced today has once again refreshed people's cognition of moths, and even many people can't recognize this moth at first glance, so it is also known as "one of the most bizarre insects in the world", but the most shocking thing is that such a strange moth is actually a particularly common species!
Adults of the black boat moth have phototropism, the head and antennae are black-brown, the body length is about 23 to 37 mm, the wingspan is 70 to 89 mm, and it is of medium stature among moths.
Its most striking thing is the "bulbous hairs" at the end of the abdomen, which are fluffy clusters of golden hairs in the middle, and the long brown-black pinnate hairs are radiating outwards, resembling mature dandelions and yellow rambutan. Usually, these hairs collapse flattened in the tufts of hairs at the end of the abdomen, and we can only see this spectacle when it is deliberately lifted.
In a 5-second video, the black boat moth raises its "tail" 7 times, and because it is lifted too high, the entire abdomen is almost cocked, which is very interesting. So why did the black boat moth make such a "spherical hair", and what is the significance? Some believe that this is to intimidate the enemy, others think that this is to spread sex hormones to attract the opposite sex. However, there is no more authoritative statement at present, and for insects with large populations, human research is still in a relatively basic stage.
In addition, the larvae of the black-rumped boat moth prefer to parasitize on the longan and sumac trees, so they are defined as pests. In fact, in the family of ark moths where the black boat moth is located, the larvae of the entire family are almost all plant-eating, and the hosts are all trees, so they are important forestry pests.
Zhang Weiwei: Entomologist, popular science writer, and ecological photographer. He has developed a number of new taxonomic orders of fossil insects in Amber, including fossil neoorder Chiptera in Burmese amber: Alienoptera; author of "Insect Genealogy: A Field Identification Guide for the World's Insects 410 Families", "Catalogue of The Stick-Insects and Leaf-Insects of China" and many other books, and has won the China Publishing Government Award, Chongqing Science and Technology Progress Award and other awards.
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Text: Lian Huiling
Poster Design: Zheng Biyin
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