Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica

Taxobox
name = "Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica"


image_caption =
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Noctuidae
subfamilia = Calpinae
genus = "Hemiceratoides"
species = "H. hieroglyphica"
binomial = "Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica"
binomial_authority = (Saalmüller, 1891)
range_

range_map_width = 250px
synonyms =

"Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica" is a moth from Madagascar. It was discovered in 2006 that it frequents sleeping birds at night, and drinks their tears, using a specialized, harpoon-like proboscis. Tear-feeding moths outside of Madagascar (for example "Mecistoptera griseifusa" in the Hypeninae subfamily) are not directly related to this species, and have evolved dissimilar mechanisms for drinking, and they do not drink from birds, but from large animals like deer or crocodiles.

References

* Malagasy birds as hosts for eye-frequenting moths. "Biology Letters" DOI|10.1098/rsbl.2006.0581
* New Scientist: [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn10826 Moths drink the tears of sleeping birds] (December 2006)