8 September 2018 | NewScientist | 25Eye to eye
NO NEED to fear this hairy monster. This
poplar hawkmoth couldn’t even try to bite you:
it has no functioning mouthparts, and will
never be able to eat.
These moths (Laothoe populi) are found all
over Europe, and can reach the size of a small
bat. Unlike other moths, they have no proboscis
protruding from their head, so are unable to sip
nectar from flowers.
Instead, these adults rely solely on body
fat they stored for energy when they were
caterpillars. This keeps them going for just three
or four weeks, meaning the race is on to find a
partner and mate.
The large insects use pheromones to find each
other. This moth is a male, and will use his yellow
antennae to search for scent-emitting females in
the night. The females send their signals and wait.
They are so weighed down by eggs that flying is
too strenuous.
If they mate successfully, the eggs are laid and
more than 100 pale green caterpillars will emerge
a week later. Before winter arrives, these bulk up
on the food that gives their species its common
name – the leaves of poplar trees.
“I wouldn’t have stood a chance had this
individual been flying,” says photographer Alex
Hyde of this close-up. He snapped this hawkmoth
as it rested in Derbyshire, UK, early one summer
morning. “It is humbling to remember that we
are surrounded by a multitude of fascinating
creatures every day, most of which are too small
for us to give a second look to as we charge
through our busy lives,” Hyde says. Yvaine Ye
Photographer
Alex Hyde
Naturepl.com