ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2022
Anti-bat ultrasound production in moths is globally and phylogenetically widespread.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Is it a bat or a male? A female moth (Syntomeida epilais, Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) adapts its acoustic signals for defense or courtship.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2025Article
- Mitochondrial Genome Comparison and Phylogenetic Variety of Four Morphologically Similar Bamboo Pests.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- A chromosome-level genome assembly of the legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).Scientific data · 2024Article
- Caught in the web: Exploring spider predation on bats in Europe.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Tiger beetles produce anti-bat ultrasound and are probable Batesian moth mimics.Biology letters · 2024Article
- Article
- A Review of Automated Bioacoustics and General Acoustics Classification Research.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- High duty cycle moth sounds jam bat echolocation: bats counter with compensatory changes in buzz duration.The Journal of experimental biology · 2022Article
- Anti-bat ultrasound production in moths is globally and phylogenetically widespread.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Warning signals are well known in the visual system, but rare in other modalities. Some moths produce ultrasonic sounds to warn bats of noxious taste or to mimic unpalatable models. Here, we report results from a long-term study across the globe, assaying moth response to playback of bat echolocation. We tested 252 genera, spanning most families of large-bodied moths, and document anti-bat ultrasound production in 52 genera, with eight subfamily origins described. Based on acoustic analysis of ultrasonic emissions and palatability experiments with bats, it seems that acoustic warning and mimicry are the raison d'être for sound production in most moths. However, some moths use high-duty-cycle ultrasound capable of jamming bat sonar. In fact, we find preliminary evidence of independent origins of sonar jamming in at least six subfamilies. Palatability data indicate that jamming and warning are not mutually exclusive strategies. To explore the possible organization of anti-bat warning sounds into acoustic mimicry rings, we intensively studied a community of moths in Ecuador and, using machine-learning approaches, found five distinct acoustic clusters. While these data represent an early understanding of acoustic aposematism and mimicry across this megadiverse insect order, it is likely that ultrasonically signaling moths comprise one of the largest mimicry complexes on earth.
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