Ever wondered why moths are furry? Richard Jones explains <\/p>
The insect order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) is named for the scales (Greek lepido) on the wing (pteron), but these mosaic-like tiles actually evolved from the hairs and bristles that occur on most insects.<\/p>
The scales and hairs on moth bodies, legs and wings serve various purposes. First, as with bumblebees<\/a> (which forage further north and earlier in the year than other insects<\/a>), they are thought to offer a thermodynamic advantage – moths mostly fly at night, when conditions are cooler. <\/p> Second, when a moth is at rest on a leaf or twig the hairy tufts and crests disrupt the smooth, insect-shaped silhouette that might otherwise give it away to bird predators. <\/p> Lastly, they provide colour that both helps with camouflage<\/a> and warns of a foul taste. <\/p> Wondering what’s the difference between moths and butterflies<\/a>? <\/p> More fascinating moth facts<\/strong><\/p> Ever wondered why moths are furry? Richard Jones explains <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":33763,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"< 1"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/11\/why-are-moths-furry.jpg",2060,1456,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/11\/why-are-moths-furry-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/11\/why-are-moths-furry-300x212.jpg",300,212,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/11\/why-are-moths-furry-768x543.jpg",768,543,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/11\/why-are-moths-furry-1024x724.jpg",800,566,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/11\/why-are-moths-furry-1536x1086.jpg",1536,1086,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/11\/why-are-moths-furry-2048x1448.jpg",2048,1448,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Ever wondered why moths are furry? Richard Jones explains","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/33762"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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