Evolutionary-novelty
Guides
Calpini
fruit-piercing moths, vampire moths
Calpini is a tribe of fruit-piercing moths in the family Erebidae, formerly placed in Noctuidae. Adults possess a pointed, barbed proboscis adapted for piercing fruit skin to feed on juice. The genus Calyptra within this tribe includes species known as vampire moths, which can pierce mammal skin to drink blood. This blood-feeding behavior is facultative and restricted to males; females feed exclusively on fruit juice and nectar.
Calyptra
Vampire Moths, Fruit-piercing Moths
Calyptra is a genus of moths comprising approximately 18 species, commonly known as vampire moths or fruit-piercing moths. Both sexes possess a modified proboscis with heavily sclerotized, barbed hooks that enables piercing of fruit skins to feed on juices. Males of at least 10 species have been documented piercing mammalian skin to feed on blood, a facultative behavior not observed in females. The genus occurs primarily in the Old World, with one species (C. canadensis) in North America. The blood-feeding behavior is hypothesized to have evolved from ancestral fruit-piercing, with males possibly obtaining salts or carbohydrates to transfer to females during mating.