''Bertholdia trigona'', or Grote's bertholdia, is a species of

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

in the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwin ...

. The species was first described by

Augustus Radcliffe Grote Augustus Radcliffe Grote (February 7, 1841 – September 12, 1903) was a British entomologist who Species description, described over 1,000 species of Lepidoptera, butterflies and moths.Osborn, H. 1937. Fragments of Entomological History. Columb ...

in 1879. It is prevalent in the southwestern United States. In studies performed at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

, these moths were shown to have developed the

ability Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various Action (philosophy), actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person ...

to disrupt the echolocation of bats. This insect is one of several moths known to jam its predator's echolocation and has the highest recorded click rate of any moth species, a feature hypothesized to increase the effectiveness of jamming.

References

External links

* *Corcoran, Aaron
''SonarJamming.com''
Sensory and Movement Ecology Lab at UC Colorado Springs. {{Taxonbar, from=Q13403125 Phaegopterina Moths described in 1879