Specimen Showcase｜The Bright-coloured Imposter🎭
- Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum
- Mar 10
- 3 min read
What image would come to your mind when you think of moths? The impression of moths to many people is usually having dull, brown-grey boring body colors and patterns. Would it blow your mind when you find out these brightly colored, eye-catching insects in the pictures are moths? They all belong to a genus of tiger moths called 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 (Fabricius, 1807), sometimes being called wasp moths or tiger moths. They are widely distributed in places like China and Australia. In Hong Kong, 5 species of the 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 genus can be found, including the Grote's wasp moth 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘪 and tiger-striped clearwing moth 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢. Moths in 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 spp. have a variety of appearances, but they all have some common characteristics, for instance, their body colors are usually yellow, orange, black and white, with black and yellow stripes on their abdomen, which closely resemble those of wasps. Their forewings are much larger and wider than their hindwings, body sizes are usually 12-16 mm, and their antennae is black and thread-like, while some of the species have a white tip. Many species of the 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 spp. also have a pair of iconic wings which some of the parts are transparent.
Species of the 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 genus do not look like wasps by chance. They are actually exhibiting a protective mechanism called “mimicry”, as they resemble wasps, a predator of other insects and armed with a venomous stinger. Same as wasps, they also love having nectar as food, so this “imposter” with a wasp-like appearance can feed on nectar freely during daytime without being afraid of being preyed on. Yes, there are diurnal moths! Not only are their body colors useful for escaping from the predator’s sight, but the bright black and yellow body colors and patterns are also a warning signal to their predators, telling them that they taste disgusting and are poisonous to eat. This is another defensive mechanism called “aposematism”, which describes the phenomenon where a species exhibits contrasting and bright colors which are usually associated with toxins or other harmful substances. Poison dart frogs and monarch butterflies are famous examples of aposematism.
𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 spp. are not only experts in avoiding predators who hunt by sight, but also those who hunt by smell. An Australian 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 species possesses a body odour caused by a chemical, Pyrazine, which will scare potential predators away and warn them that they are no good food!
As mentioned earlier, many species of the 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 genus have beautiful wing parts that are transparent. It is also believed to be mimicking the wings of wasps. As a member of the family Lepidoptera like other moths and butterflies, one should expect to find scales on their wings. However, the translucent parts are not covered by scales, therefore it is clear and allows light to pass through.
Now you might be dazzled by the appearance of the 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 species and how it protects itselves with such eye-catching colors. Do come to the museum and have a close look on the 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢 spp. specimens!
Text: Joyce Lee
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