The
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Calyptra'' is a group of
moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
s in subfamily
Calpinae
The Calpinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1840. This subfamily includes many species of moths that have a pointed and barbed proboscis adapted to piercing the skins of fruit to feed on ju ...
of the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Erebidae
The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...
. They are a member of the
Calpini
The Calpini are a tribe of fruit-piercing moths in the family Erebidae; formerly they were included in the family Noctuidae. The proboscis of the adult moths of this tribe is pointed and barbed, allowing the moth to pierce the skin of fruit to dr ...
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
, whose precise circumscription is uncertain but which includes a number of other fruit-piercing or eye-frequenting genera currently classified in Calpinae.
Etymology
The common name of many of these species, vampire moth, refers to the habit that they have of drinking blood from
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
s. According to a recent study, some of them (''
C. thalictri'') are even capable of
drinking human blood through skin. However, the moths are not thought to cause any threat to humans.
[
Some species of this genus have been classified with genus name ''Calpe'', and they include more than one blood-sucker.
]
Description
Palpi porrect (extending forward), where the second joint and third joint fringed below with very long hair. The frontal tuft is large, with the metathorax having only very slight tufts. The abdomen features coarse hair on the dorsum; the tibia is spineless, but slightly hairy. The forewings have slightly arched costa. The apex is acute, with the outer margin excurved at vein 3. The inner margin is lobed near the base and at the outer angle. The larvae of the ''Calyptra'' moth have three pairs of abdominal prolegs.
Habitat
The ''Calyptra'' moth has been observed as changing its habitat in recent years; the species '' Calyptra thalictri'' was originally native to Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, the Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...
and southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...
, but has been found in northern Europe
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...
. In 2000, they were observed in Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and in 2008 they were seen further west in Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The Swedish observation was in Skutskär
Skutskär is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Älvkarleby Municipality in Uppsala County, Sweden with 6,075 inhabitants in 2010. According to the census of 2000 6,003 people lived in Skutskär, most of them in Älvkarleby Municipality, but ...
, north of the capital of Stockholm,[Vampire moth turns up in Sweden]
, Peter Vinthagen Simpson, The local, 29 July 2008, accessed 20 October 2008 whilst the sightings in Finland have been more numerous. It is found in southern Finland
Southern Finland ( fi, Etelä-Suomen lääni, sv, Södra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia.
History
O ...
, in particular in the south east.[Blood-sucking vampire moth becoming more common in Finland]
, Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
, 5 June 2007, accessed 20 October 2008
The moth '' Calyptra thalictri'' has been seen to be associated with the plant meadow-rue
''Thalictrum'' () is a genus of 120-200 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, native mostly to temperate regions. Meadow-rue is a common name for plants in this genus.
''Thalictrum'' is a taxonom ...
."''Calyptra thalictri'' (Borkhausen, 1790)"
''Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa''. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
Penetrating skin
Insects piercing the skin of
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s are familiar in creatures such as
mosquitoes
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...
, but the moth uses a specially developed proboscis to penetrate the skin of animals, such as buffalo. A species in Malaysia was observed using its hollowed out
proboscis
A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...
which is divided into two halves. The insect rocks the proboscis from one side to the other, applying pressure until it pierces the skin. It then uses a rocking head motion to drill the tube deeper into the skin. The
blood pressure
Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...
of the victim supplies power to raise hooks on the proboscis to ensure the insect is not easily detached.
[Our Amazing World: Wonders hidden below the surface]
By Avrohom Katz, p, , accessed 20 October 2008 Only male moths exhibit this ability, unlike mosquitoes, where the female is the one that drinks blood.
It is thought that the moth's ability to pierce animal skin and drink blood may have sprung from an earlier ability to pierce fruit in search of juice.
[ Human skin penetrated in this way may turn red and be sore for several hours leaving an itchy rash. Despite the bite being more severe than that of a mosquito, the moths do not pose a risk to humans.][
Although it has been reported that moths have bitten humans in Asia, it was not until the summer of 1999 that a Russian scientist, Vladimir Kononenko, observed that this species of moth was capable of filling its stomach with human blood.][
]
Species
* '' Calyptra albivirgata'' Hampson, 1926
* '' Calyptra bicolor'' Moore, 1883
* ''Calyptra canadensis
''Calyptra canadensis'', the Canadian owlet or meadow rue owlet moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Charles J. S. Bethune in 1865. It is found in North America from Nova Scotia to North Carolina in mountain ...
'' Bethune, 1865 – Canadian owlet moth
* ''Calyptra eustrigata
''Calyptra eustrigata'' is a moth of the family Erebidae, found in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known ...
'' 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
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Calyptra (Moth)
Calpinae
Hematophages
Moth genera