''Bradypodicola hahneli'' is a

sloth moth A sloth moth is a coprophagous moth which has evolved to exclusively inhabit the fur of sloths and to use sloth dung as a substrate for the early stages of reproduction. Sloth moths include '' Bradypodicola hahneli'', ''Cryptoses choloepi'', ''Cry ...

in the family Pyralidae that lives exclusively in the fur of the pale-throated three-toed sloth (''Bradypus tridactylus''), a three-toed sloth found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. It is the only species of the genus ''Bradypodicola''. While the other sloth moth, ''

Cryptoses choloepi ''Cryptoses choloepi'' is a sloth moth in the snout moth family that as an adult lives exclusively in the fur of sloths, mammals found in South and Central America. Adult female moths live in the fur of the brown three-toed sloth '' Bradypus vari ...

'', has a continuously convex front of its head, ''Bradypodicola hahneli'' has a concave shape of the front of its head. The three-toed sloth's fur forms a micro-ecozone inhabited by green algae and hundreds of insects. The fur provides a home and protection for the moth which feeds on the algae. It also deposits its eggs in the droppings of the sloth, where they pupate and hatch, the newly hatched moths flying off to look for another sloth to live on.

References

Chrysauginae Pyralidae of South America Monotypic moth genera Moths of South America Pyralidae genera Coprophagous insects {{Chrysauginae-stub

See also

References