Calyptra (moth)

Calyptra
Calyptra thalictri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Noctuidae
Subfamily:	Calpinae
Tribe:	Calpini
Genus:	Calyptra Ochsenheimer, 1816
Species
See text
Synonyms
Calpe Treitschke, 1825 Culasta Moore, 1881 Hypocalpe Butler, 1883 Percalpe Berio, 1956

The genus Calyptra is a group of moths in subfamily Calpinae of the family Noctuidae. They are a member of the Calpini tribe. whose precise circumscription is uncertain but includes a number of other fruit-piercing or eye-frequenting genera currently classified in Calpinae.^[1]

The common name of many of these species, vampire moth, refers to the habit that they have of drinking blood from vertebrates. According to a recent study, some of them (C. thalictri) are even capable of drinking human blood through skin.^[2][3] However, the moths are not thought to cause any threat to humans.^[4]

Some species of this genus have been classified with genus name Calpe and they include more than one blood-sucker.

Habitat

These insects have been changing their habitat in recent years. The species Calyptra thalictri was native to Malaysia, the Urals and Southern Europe,^[5] but is turning up in northern Europe. In 2000, they were observed in Finland and in 2008 they were seen further west in Sweden. The Swedish observation was in Skutskär north of the capital Stockholm^[4] whilst the sightings in Finland have been more numerous. It is found in southern Finland, in particular in the south east.^[6]

The moth Calyptra thalictri has been seen to be associated with the plant meadow-rue.^[7]

Penetrating skin

The difficulty of piercing the skin of a mammal by an insect is familiar in creatures such as mosquitoes, but the moth uses a specially developed proboscis to penetrate the skin of buffalo. A species in Malaysia was observed to use its hollowed out proboscis which is divided into two halves. The insect first rocks its attention from one half to the other until its pierces the skins. It then uses a rocking motion of its head to drill the tube deeper into the skin. It is the blood pressure of the victim that supplies the power to raise hooks on the proboscis that ensure the insect is not easily detached.^[8] It is thought that the evolution of this moth's ability to pierce the skin of mammals would have started with an earlier ability to pierce fruit. Using the same ability to drink blood is just a natural extension of this skill.^[4] After human skin has been penetrated it tends to turn red and be sore for the following two to three hours. Despite the wound being more severe than that of a mosquito it is thought that there is no health risk and the moths need not be avoided.^[6]

Although it has been reported that moths have bitten humans in Asia, it was not until the summer of 1999 when a Russian scientist, Vladimir Kononenko, observed that this species of moth was capable of filling its stomach with human blood.^[6] Only male moths exhibit this ability, as opposed to mosquitoes, where the female is the one that drinks blood.

Species

Calyptra albivirgata Hampson, 1926 Calyptra bicolor Moore, 1883 Calyptra canadensis Bethune, 1865 Calyptra eustrigata Hampson, 1926 Calyptra fasciata Moore, 1882 Calyptra fletcheri Berio, 1956 Calyptra gruesa Draudt, 1950 Calyptra hokkaida Wileman, 1922 Calyptra imperialis Grünberg, 1910

Calyptra lata Butler, 1881 Calyptra minuticornis Guenée, 1852 Calyptra nyei Bänziger, 1979 Calyptra ophideroides Guenée, 1852 Calyptra orthograpta Butler, 1886 Calyptra parva Bänziger, 1979 Calyptra pseudobicolor Bänziger, 1979 Calyptra subnubila Prout, 1928 Calyptra thalictri Borkhausen, 1790)

References

1. ^ Calpinae, in Wikispecies, accessed 20 October 2008
2. ^ article, epl.ee, Estonian, accessed 20 October 2008
3. ^ Picture of thumb being pierced Worlds weirdest moths, accessed 20 October 2008
4. ^ ^{a b c} Vampire moth turns up in Sweden, Peter Vinthagen Simpson, The local, 29 July 2008, accessed 20 October 2008
5. ^ Vampire moth turns up in Finland, The Guardian, 4 June, 2007, accessed 20 October 2008
6. ^ ^{a b c} Blood-sucking vampire moth becoming more common in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat, 5 June 2007, accessed 20 October, 2008
7. ^ calyptra thalictri, leps.it, accessed 20 October, 2008
8. ^ Our Amazing World: Wonders hidden below the surface By Avrohom Katz, p, ISBN 0899063136, accessed 20 October 2008

External links

• Calyptra at the Global Lepidoptera Names Index, Natural History Museum
• Calyptra at Butterflies and Moths of the World, Natural History Museum
• Moths of genus Calyptra