By Susan Milius
From Snowbird, Utah, at a meeting of the Animal Behavior Society
Females of the species called rattlebox moths sniff out each other’s male-attracting pheromones and congregate, creating the pheromone-based equivalent of male frogs gathering in a pond to croak a mating chorus, say researchers.
The rattlebox moth (Utethesia ornatrix) became famous when researchers figured out how the species uses and depends on plant toxins. The moths pick up alkaloids from several wild legumes in the Crotalaria genus. Males offer their prospective mates sperm packages dosed with these alkaloids. The females take the alkaloids and incorporate them into their eggs, protecting them from predators that are repelled by the chemicals.