Weird & Wilder: Some Moths Breathe Underwater!

Last week in Flutter DYNASTY, I shared a video by Tasha Stanley who had found a moth chilling out in her fish tank, completely submerged underwater! You can check out the video here:




Seems like the moth is perfectly fine in the fish tank! It could move around, breathe, and when Tasha took it out of the water it didn't seem to have sustained any injuries.

Some moths are quite hairy and these hairs help to repel water and trap air bubbles around them, perhaps this is the reason why Tasha's moth could go for a swim in the tank.

I also googled around for some explanations and found this interesting video about Aquatic Moths and how they actually spend over half their life cycle underwater!

The video explains that these moths have waterproof hairs that are called Hydrofuge Hairs, and these hairs on their skin creates an air bubble around them which is called a Plastron. Oxygen from the water diffuses into the Plastron which then allows the moths to breathe.

A study by Daniel Rubinoff and Patrick Schmitz on the Hawaiian Hyposmocoma moth found that the larve submerged underwater rely on direct diffusion of oxygen from the water into their hydrophilic skin along their abdomens. Therefore they can only survive in "well-oxygenated streams, and quickly die in stagnant water."


Who knows, next time our moths in Starlight might run over to take a dip in Splash too! xD


Weird & Wilder is a mini series dedicated to exploring the strangest facts about moths and butterflies. Who would ever again think that moths are boring? Check out the entire series here!


Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥

Cheers,
Night

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