If you’re a female moth, finding the best plant to host your young may be as simple as taking a close listen.
When low on water, some plants make high-pitched clicking noises, inaudible to humans. Female moths, using their sensitive hearing, appear to key in on the distressed din and steer clear in order to lay their eggs on plants that will better feed their caterpillars after hatching, researchers report November 14 at bioRxiv.org.
Ultrasonic thirsty plant clicks were discovered in 2023 by colleagues of Rya Seltzer, an entomologist at Tel Aviv University (SN: 3/30/23). She and her team wondered if moths — which could theoretically hear in the
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