快猫短视频

CHIVALRY isn鈥檛 dead, at least not if you鈥檙e a scarlet-bodied wasp moth. A
male suitor will blanket his lady-love with fibres coated with protective
chemicals to ward off predators while they mate, researchers have found.

A team led by William Conner at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and
Thomas Eisner at Cornell University in New York state studied the moth,
Cosmosoma myrodora. They found that males of the species get tanked up on
toxic chemicals called alkaloids by feeding on fluid exuded by plants such as
dog fennel. This makes the moths unpalatable to spiders and other predators.

The male has a pair of abdominal pouches containing a mass of intricate
fibres impregnated with alkaloid. When courting a mate, he discharges the fibres
over her like nuptial confetti. 鈥淗e literally explodes,鈥� says Eisner. When the
scientists coated virgin females with the fibres and flicked them into spiders鈥�
webs, the spiders hastily cut them loose.

The moths spend 9 hours copulating, so protection is vital. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the
ultimate in safe sex,鈥� says Conner.

Not surprisingly, the male has an ulterior motive. He transfers up to a fifth
of his body weight to the female as a packet of sperm. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 quite an
investment,鈥� says Conner. 鈥淎nd that investment needs to be protected.鈥�