A small group of geometrid moths were found flitting around
a shallow rut in this forest trackway and on closer examination some of them
were seen working their proboscides on the damp soil surface. They were Lobophora
halterata (The Seraphim or Szárnyfüggelékes Araszoló). A brief shower during
what had been until then a very dry early spring had resulted in a small puddle
forming on the trackway. Whereas elsewhere on the forest floor the water quickly disappeared
through soil percolation and evapotranspiration, in the shady rut the moisture
was slightly more long lived.
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| Lobophora halterata |
Mud-puddling - the intake of moisture from damp mud by adult
Lepidoptera - is often associated with butterflies and can result in
spectacular congregations of insects (see
here for
a great 3 minute film about this from
Thailand
by www.earthtouchnews.com) but many moths have also been observed in this
habit. The insects are usually males. In a field study in
Pennsylvania
by Adler (1982), in which more than 3000 individuals from 10 families of the
Lepidoptera were seen visiting puddles, 99% were males. It is thought that this
behaviour developed naturally from water drinking. The incidental intake of dissolved sodium ions (and
perhaps other nutrients) may have given some reproductive advantage to the insects which has in turn led to the evolution of a behavioural habit which is very strong in some species (but not recorded in others - the biological and nutritional function of mud-puddling is still incompletely understood).
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| Lobophora halterata |
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