Moths drink the tears of sleeping birds

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That sounds at once quasi-poetic and somewhat disturbing. But apparently it's true. There exists a species of moth in Madagascar that sups on the tears of birds:

A species of moth drinks tears from the eyes of sleeping birds using a fearsome proboscis 2qa5mwk.jpgshaped like a harpoon, scientists have revealed. The new discovery - spied in Madagascar - is the first time moths have been seen feeding on the tears of birds.

Roland Hilgartner at the German Primate Centre in Göttingen, Germany, and Mamisolo Raoilison Hilgartner at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, witnessed the apparently unique sight in the island state's Kirindy forest.


If this is not weird enough, apparently


Tear-feeding moths and butterflies are known to exist elsewhere in Africa, Asia and South America, but they mainly feed on large, placid animals, such as deer, antelope or crocodiles, which cannot readily brush them away. But there are no such large animals on Madagascar. The main mammals - lemurs and mongoose - have paws capable of shooing the moths. Birds can fly away.

You can read more here.



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This page contains a single entry by Richard published on June 19, 2010 12:33 PM.

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