February, 2018

Eggplant Leafroller Moth

Most moths are nocturnal, so they need a way of avoiding predators when they are inactive during daylight hours. Lacking fangs, pincers or spines, their best defense is camouflage, and it can take some outlandish forms. The eggplant leafroller moth (Lineodes integra) has the usual disruptive brown wing and body markings that tend to allow insects a degree of invisibility against a naturally colored background. But this species goes a bit further to look as un-moth-like as possible. The exact reason that these creatures curl their abdomen up and forward, often to the point that the tip touches the front of the face, is not known. When compared to a typical moth in resting position, this certainly does not match the normal example and so may escape notice by a bird or other hunter that has a more characteristic search image in mind. Whatever the exact model for the strange pose, be it a dried leaf tip, bits of dead grass or the frayed end of a broken branch, the masquerade must work: this is a relatively common moth for much of the year.