Biology:Brenthia hexaselena

Short description: Species of moth

Brenthia hexaselena
File:Predator-Mimicry-Metalmark-Moths-Mimic-Their-Jumping-Spider-Predators-pone.0000045.s002.ogv
Video showing Brenthia hexaselena mimicking its predator, a jumping spider in posture, coloration and movement
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Choreutidae
Genus:	Brenthia
Species:	B. hexaselena
Binomial name
Brenthia hexaselena Meyrick, 1909
Synonyms
Brenthia bicaudella Walsingham, 1914

Brenthia hexaselena is a species of moth of the family Choreutidae. It is found in Costa Rica. It is a rare example of a prey animal mimicking its predator.

Mimicry

The jumping spider Phiale formosa, a predator of the Brenthia moth, is unusually mimicked by the moth

Adult moths mimic the jumping spider Phiale formosa, one of their predators. The moths lie low with their wings held up facing forward, their coloration, pattern and movement all resembling those of the spider. In an experiment, Brenthia hexaselena and Brenthia monolychna had higher survival rates than other similarly sized moths in the presence of jumping spiders. The jumping spiders responded to Brenthia with territorial displays, indicating that the species were sometimes mistaken for jumping spiders, and not recognized as prey.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q4961648 entry