The Twisted Moth - An Example of Masquerade in Nature (with multiple photos)

Do you enjoy a 'tail' with a good twist? Here's one for you then. It is the Twisted moth Circopetes obtusata. It rests with it's wings spread straight out and with the hind wings tucked neatly out of site. It's resemblance to a broken or torn leaf is quite obvious. The technical term for this type of mimicry, where an organism looks like a stick, leaf or some other inanimate object, is masquerade. This no doubt gives a level of protection from predators, which, if they notice the moth at all, will find it of no interest. Now, what of that twist I mentioned? Did you notice, especially in the fifth photo below, that the abdomen is twisted to one side? This twist also helps to maintain the leaf like appearance by breaking up the symmetry of the wings.

It is just as well that the Twisted moth has some form of protection from predators as there is evidence to suggest that it makes quite a tasty meal for some birds. In one experiment, 117 species of moth, from 13 families, were offered to Pied butcher birds, Cracticus nigrogularis, to identify which ones were distasteful. Some species were always rejected. Others were only occasionally eaten. What of the poor old Twisted moth? It was offered to the birds 32 times and it was eaten 32 times.

Below are some of the photos I've taken of this species including one shot of the eggs.

_{( All photos, videos, and text on this blog are by @mostly.nature )}

_{Eggs laid by Circopetes obtusata}

...and here is the simplified version of this post summed up in one picture

_{Make like a leaf!}

References:

• Mackey, A. P. (1985), Moth Species Eaten by Pied Butcher Birds - Australian Journal of Entomology, 24: 93–94.

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