Tricky moths

Bats and moths are a classic predator and prey story, with lots of evolutionary twist and turns along the way. It has long been known that moths could detect the ultrasonic pulses that bats emit as part of their echolocation navigational system. Researchers have identified a variety of moth survival strategies, including their distinctive erratic flight patterns, which they employ when they hear an approaching predator. A Current Biology paper a couple of years ago even found that the yellow underwing moths can tune their ears to better hear the bats calls while being chased. It's a constant evolutionary struggle for the bats to overcome these prey defenses to catch their daily full meals.

A new study, published last week in Science, identifies yet another innovative moth adaptation to avoiding bat predation: sonar jamming. Using a paired set of sound-producing organs known as tymballs, the moths can emit up to 450 ultrasonic clicks in a tenth of a second -- a frequency that somehow disrupts the bat's echolocation.

Whether or not this strategy helps the moths evade capture in the wild remains to be seen, but it certainly seems like it could buy them enough time to escape. What's next in this evolutionary arms race? What other clever tricks that predators and prey play on each other can you think of?

--Jef Akst, Associate Editor, The Scientist

I have a simpleminded question.
To combat against a sonar-based predator, would not falling on some object and staying still would serve the same purpose? The sonar interference is most intersting.
Just an aside

I used to ask the facetious question in my class about the mosquitos caught in the net and resting on the inside of the net on your bed (say, the house itself is not netted). What is the best evolutionary flight option when you are trying to kill them by clapping your hands. These mosquitoes, even if only one are two, are most annoying. The assumption is that flight pattern could evolve and stabilize in the next 100 years are so and the mosquitos would develop flight resistance

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The best answer I got for it over time was that the mosquito resting on the net should fly directly into your eyes. You could have difficulty in focussing and in adjusting the distance and thereby miss the pest! The only problem is that I never came across one that did that. The debate in the class was always most spontaneous and quite interesting.