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The
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Calyptra'' is a group 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 ...
s in subfamily
Calpinae The Calpinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1840. This subfamily includes many species of moths that have a pointed and barbed proboscis adapted to piercing the skins of fruit to feed on ju ...
of the
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
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 ...
. They are a member of the Calpini
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
, whose precise circumscription is uncertain but which includes a number of other fruit-piercing or eye-frequenting genera currently classified in Calpinae.


Etymology

The common name of many of these species, vampire moth, refers to the habit that they have of drinking blood from
vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...
s. According to a recent study, some of them ('' C. thalictri'') are even capable of drinking human blood through skin. However, the moths are not thought to cause any threat to humans. Some species of this genus have been classified with genus name ''Calpe'', and they include more than one blood-sucker.


Description

Palpi porrect (extending forward), where the second joint and third joint fringed below with very long hair. The frontal tuft is large, with the metathorax having only very slight tufts. The abdomen features coarse hair on the dorsum; the tibia is spineless, but slightly hairy. The forewings have slightly arched costa. The apex is acute, with the outer margin excurved at vein 3. The inner margin is lobed near the base and at the outer angle. The larvae of the ''Calyptra'' moth have three pairs of abdominal prolegs.


Habitat

The ''Calyptra'' moth has been observed as changing its habitat in recent years; the species '' Calyptra thalictri'' was originally native to
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, the
Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.
and
southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...
, but has been found in
northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
. In 2000, they were observed in
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
and in 2008 they were seen further west in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. The Swedish observation was in
Skutskär Skutskär is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Älvkarleby Municipality in Uppsala County, Sweden with 6,075 inhabitants in 2010. According to the census of 2000 6,003 people lived in Skutskär, most of them in Älvkarleby Municipality, but a ...
, north of the capital of Stockholm,Vampire moth turns up in Sweden
, Peter Vinthagen Simpson, The local, 29 July 2008, accessed 20 October 2008
whilst the sightings in Finland have been more numerous. It is found in
southern Finland Southern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History On September 1, 1997 the Uusimaa Province, the Ky ...
, in particular in the south east.Blood-sucking vampire moth becoming more common in Finland
,
Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
, 5 June 2007, accessed 20 October 2008
''Calyptra'' typically inhabits wetlands, such as ponds or lakes. They are deft fliers, usually active at night when searching for food. The moth '' Calyptra thalictri'' has been seen to be associated with the plant
meadow-rue ''Thalictrum'' () is a genus of 120-200 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, native mostly to temperate regions. Meadow-rue is a common name for plants in this genus. ''Thalictrum'' is a taxono ...
."''Calyptra thalictri'' (Borkhausen, 1790)"
''Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa''. Retrieved January 13, 2018.


Penetrating skin

Insects piercing the skin of
mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
s are familiar in creatures such as
mosquitoes Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...
, but the moth uses a specially developed proboscis to penetrate the skin of animals, such as buffalo. A species in Malaysia was observed using its hollowed out
proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...
which is divided into two halves. The insect rocks the proboscis from one side to the other, applying pressure until it pierces the skin. It then uses a rocking head motion to drill the tube deeper into the skin. The
blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...
of the victim supplies power to raise hooks on the proboscis to ensure the insect is not easily detached.Our Amazing World: Wonders hidden below the surface
By Avrohom Katz, p, , accessed 20 October 2008
Only male moths exhibit this ability, unlike mosquitoes, where the female is the one that drinks blood. It is thought that the moth's ability to pierce animal skin and drink blood may have sprung from an earlier ability to pierce fruit in search of juice. Human skin penetrated in this way may turn red and be sore for several hours leaving an itchy rash. Despite the bite being more severe than that of a mosquito, the moths do not pose a risk to humans. Although it has been reported that moths have bitten humans in Asia, it was not until the summer of 1999 that a Russian scientist, Vladimir Kononenko, observed that this species of moth was capable of filling its stomach with human blood.


Species

* ''
Calyptra albivirgata ''Calyptra albivirgata'' is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by George Hampson in 1926. It is found in Asia, including China and Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast co ...
'' Hampson, 1926 * ''
Calyptra bicolor ''Calyptra bicolor'' is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; th ...
'' Moore, 1883 * ''
Calyptra canadensis ''Calyptra canadensis'', the Canadian owlet or meadow rue owlet moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Charles J. S. Bethune in 1865. It is found in North America from Nova Scotia to North Carolina in mountain ...
'' Bethune, 1865 – Canadian owlet moth * '' Calyptra eustrigata'' Hampson, 1926 * '' Calyptra fasciata'' Moore, 1882 * '' Calyptra fletcheri'' Berio, 1956 * '' Calyptra gruesa'' Draudt, 1950 * '' Calyptra hokkaida'' Wileman, 1922 * '' Calyptra imperialis'' Grünberg, 1910 * '' Calyptra lata'' Butler, 1881 * '' Calyptra minuticornis'' Guenée, 1852 * '' Calyptra nyei'' Bänziger, 1979 * '' Calyptra ophideroides'' Guenée, 1852 * ''
Calyptra orthograpta ''Calyptra orthograpta'' is a moth of the family Erebidae. It has been found in China and India. It has been noted to be a relatively rare species. References

Calpinae Moths of Japan Moths described in 1886 {{Calpinae-stub ...
'' Butler, 1886 * '' Calyptra parva'' Bänziger, 1979 * '' Calyptra pseudobicolor'' Bänziger, 1979 * '' Calyptra subnubila'' Prout, 1928 * '' Calyptra thalictri'' Borkhausen, 1790


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calyptra (Moth) Calpinae Hematophages Moth genera