![]() ![]() Their brief lives as an adult are spent reproducing and they are able to acquire all of the energy needed for this from the fat stored in the body by the caterpillar.Ī moths antennae, palps, legs and many other parts of the body are studded with sense receptors that are used to smell. There are adults of some species that do not take in any food. In some, there is no feeding mechanism at all. In some, the proboscis is very short, an adaptation which enables easy and effective piercing of fruit. The Darwin’s Hawk moth of Madagascar has a proboscis nearly 13 inches long, evolved, no doubt, to enable feeding on deep throated orchids which grow in that region. The Hummingbird Moth has a tongue that is actually longer than its whole body. When in use, the proboscis are uncoiled to their full length and in some species, that length is remarkably long. These proboscis are very tightly coiled not in use, like a hosepipe. ![]() Moths have very long proboscis, or tongues, which they use to suck nectar or other fluids. Moths are usually active at night and rest during the day in a preferred wooded habitat. Moths tend to have thick hairy bodies and more earth tone colored wings. Moths often have feather like antennae with no club at the end. Scientists have identified some 200,000 species of moths world wide and suspect there may be as many as five times that amount. The differences between butterflies and moths is more than just taxonomy. Moths are insect closely related to butterflies. ![]()
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