In Search of the Elusive Behavior of the Erre Silk Moth in the
Great Himalayan National Park
Nature keeps
on demystifying itself with some unique images captured by intrepid explores
like Panki Sood in the Great Himalayan National Park. The park located in the
Kullu Valley of Himachal Pradesh is one of the last remaining bastions of
unique flora and fauna in the Western Himalayas & in the final stages of
being declared as a World Heritage Site. The above picture was shot in the
buffer zone of the national park in a untouched valley called Tirthan.
As Panki
Sood who is known for his nocturnal escapades to click wildlife was on the move
he noticed this unique phenomenon of a Erre Silk Moth guzzling water and
shooting it out from the rear. The phenomena photographed with beautiful
precision gave birth to a discussion within experts who had also bred this moth
for commercial purposes as it has been never seen before. Since Saturniidae do not have functioning mouth parts
(i.e. no or vestigial haustellum), so this individual can't be drinking water.
That begs the question "what the ..... is it doing?" One of the theories was that, it may have
been a freshly emerged moth which, after
expanding its wings, was ejecting excess liquid. A suggestion was given to breed them, (they are very easy to breed), and
then conduct this experiment, with several specimens, it would be better, since
the assumptions above, that it is actually drinking and venting liquid, if
proved, will change the way we look at the lack or reduction of mouthparts in
moths.
All butterflies and moths have body fluids when
they emerge, which is used to pump into the hollow "veins" of the
wings, thus allowing them to expand. During this process, the insect often
vents fluid from the rear end of the abdomen, albeit not as a spray as captured
in Panki’s photo, but a few drops...Hence another hidden facet of nature was
revealed high up in the Himalayas.
