Image of a bat and moth taken with a high-speed infrared camera. Credit: Wake Forest University

Researchers from Wake Forest University have shown that moths mimic the sounds of other undesirable moths as a defense mechanism.

In the study, the researchers presented several moths to red and brown bats. The bats learned to avoid the moths that made clicking sounds because they made them sick.

The researchers then presented tiger moths to the bats. These moths were capable of mimicking the acoustic sounds of the other moths that contained the noxious chemical substances. As a result, the bats avoided the tiger moths in spite of the fact that they had no chemical protection.

The findings from this study can be found in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Learn more about this discovery:

• Moths Mimic Sounds To Survive Science Daily