Moths of
the Amazon and Andes
Myrodora Wasp Mimic
Cosmosoma myrodora
( or related species, ref 434 )
Family - ARCTIIDAE
subfamily -
CTENUCHINAE
Tribe - EUCHROMIINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Cosmosoma myrodora ( or related
species ), Manu cloudforest, 1400m, Peru |
Introduction
There are 187 known
species in the genus
Cosmosoma.
Habitats
To be completed.
Lifecycle
To be completed.
Adult behaviour
As is generally
the case with nocturnal moths, males of
Cosmosoma myrodora are attracted by
pheromones emitted by their females. As the male approaches
a female, he hovers above her, and discharges a burst of very fine
filaments which swirl in the air around her, and envelop her body.
American
biologists Conner and Boada investigated the lifecycle and ecology
of this moth. They found that Cosmosoma
males are attracted to Eupatorium
plants, and sequestered alkaloids from juices seeping from the
stems. Such pyrrolizidine alkaloids are sequestered by a wide
variety of butterfly genera including
Ithomia, Pteronymia,
Oleria, Lycorea
and Danaus; and by several genera of
moths in the family Arctiidae. The PAs stored in the bodies of the
insects render them toxic or unpalatable to birds, and are a
primary defence method in aposematic species.
The researchers
found that in the case of Cosmosoma
the toxins seemed to be directed mainly at predatory spiders.
Moths caught in the webs of Nephila clavipes
were cut free from the webs by the spider, but moths which had
been deprived of the opportunity to sequester PAs were consumed.
Conner and Boada
found that PAs were passed to females via the discharged
filaments, and also via spermatophores delivered during
copulation. The PA toxins conveyed to females were found to
provide
them with protection against predators during the following
nights, enabling them to lay their eggs unmolested. It was also demonstrated
that the toxins were passed to the eggs, and provided them with
protection against ants, Coccinellid beetles ( ladybirds
) and Chrysopid larvae.
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