Blood-sucking moths

[James Kruse]

on 11/19/02 8:09 AM, Ken Kinman at kinman at HOTMAIL.COM wrote:

> Dear All,
> Does anyone know anything about the discovery of a blood-sucking
> "butterfly" in Europe?   I was recently just half-listening to a show (I
> believe it was on the Discovery Channel) and not sure if I heard correctly.
> I am wondering if it is related to the moth genus Calpe, or an unrelated
> genus of lepidopteran.
> Also, I would also be interested to know if the blood-sucking moth
> (Calpe eustrigata) of Malaysia is exclusively a blood feeder.  Or are they
> like mosquitoes where blood is only needed by the females for reproduction?
> -----  Cheers,  Ken

I have not heard of the recent discovery, but there is a really great
article on Calpe eustrigata:

Banziger, Hans 1971. Bloodsucking moths of Malaya. Fauna 1: 4-16.

(A real shame that Fauna: The Zoological Magazine didn't survive.)

I do not think that the feeding is restricted to females for reproduction,
but it is simply how the adults feed (perhaps not exclusively either?).
Others in the genus Calpe feed by piercing fruits. Additionally, a variety
of lepidopterans from a few families have been known to feed on spilled
mammalian blood, or even get it from excess blood expelled by blood-filled
mosquitoes.

Fun stuff!

James J. Kruse, Ph.D.
Adjunct Faculty and Curator of Entomology
University of Alaska Museum
907 Yukon Drive
Fairbanks, AK, USA 99775-6960
tel 907.474.5579
fax 907.474.1987
http://www.uaf.edu/museum/ento