Auditory sensitivity of Hawaiian moths (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae) and selective predation by the Hawaiian hoary bat (Chiroptera : Lasiurus cinereus semotus)
Jh. Fullard, Auditory sensitivity of Hawaiian moths (Lepidoptera : Noctuidae) and selective predation by the Hawaiian hoary bat (Chiroptera : Lasiurus cinereus semotus), P ROY SOC B, 268(1474), 2001, pp. 1375-1380
Citations number
33
Categorie Soggetti
Experimental Biology
Journal title
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
The islands of Hawaii offer a unique opportunity for studying the auditory
ecology of moths and bats since this habitat has a single species of hat, t
he Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus), which exerts the entire
predatory selection pressure on the ears of sympatric moths. I compared the
moth wings discarded by foraging bats with the number of surviving moths o
n the island of Kauai and concluded" that the endemic noctuid Haliophyle eu
clidias is more heavily preyed upon than similar-sized endemic (e.g. Agroti
s diplosticata) and adventive (Agrotis ipsilon and Pseudaletia unipuncta) s
pecies.. Electrophysiological examinations indicated that, compared with sp
ecies less preyed upon, H. euclidias has lower auditory sensitivities to th
e bat's social and echolocation calls, which will result in shorter detecti
on distances of the bat. The poor ears of H. euclidias suggest that this mo
th coevolved with the bat using non-auditory defences that resulted in audi
tory degeneration. This moth now suffers higher predation because it is dra
wn away from its normal habitat by the man-made lights that are exploited b
y the bat.