 |
Curiosities and Extremes Surprising Bodies |
WinglessThe females of some species of moths don’t have wings, all they can do to move is crawling.
The longest proboscis
The Morgan’s Sphinx (Xanthopan morganii) from Madagascar has a
proboscis that is 12 to 14 inches (30 to 35 cm) long to get the nectar from the
bottom of a 12 inches (30cm) deep orchid
discovered by Charles Darwin. He didn’t know the moth but presumed its
existence. A few years later his supposition was confirmed by discovering the
moth.
No mouth
Some moths never eat anything as adults because they don’t have mouths.
They must live on the energy they stored as caterpillars.
Invisible patterns
In addition to the designs we can see, many butterflies have ultraviolet
patterns.
 |
Many butterflies have organs for tasting on their feet so they can find out whether the leaf they sit on is good to lay eggs on and be their caterpillars’ food or not.
Caterpillars’ eyes
Most caterpillars have twelve eyes but they can only see light or dark.
Others don’t have eyes at all.
Male, female or both?
There are butterflies being male and female together. If male and female
look different, such a butterfly will look like a female on one side and like a
male on the other.
No proboscis
Some original small moths (Micropterygidae) don’t have a proboscis,
but they can bite. So they live on pollen. They can give us an impression of how
the ancestors of today’s butterflies might have looked like.
Water-soluble color?
Water changes the brown color of the Meadow-brown (Maniola jurtina).
It gets lighter with water.
