Another Blood Feeder? Experimental Feeding of a Fruit-Piercing Moth Species on Human Blood in the Primorye Territory of Far Eastern Russia (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpinae)

Abstract

The genus Calyptra Ochsenheimer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpini) includes what are commonly known as vampire moths, so named because of their ability to pierce mammalian flesh and feed on blood. These are medium sized moths, with wingspans ranging from 35 to 72 mm in size (Banziger 1983; Table 1; Figs. 1, 2 and 3). Species in this genus occur in S. Europe, eastern Africa, sub-Himalayan regions of S. Asia, the Manchurian subregion, and are broadly distributed throughout S. E. Asia. Calyptra species have enjoyed popularity among members of the entomological community due to their modified proboscides equipped with strongly sclerotized barbed hooks used for piercing through both thick and hard skinned fruits such as peaches, plums, and citrus as well as mammals (Banziger 1982; Zaspel, personal observation; Fig. 4). Of the 17–19 described Calyptra species (Banziger 1983; Poole 1989), C. eustrigata (Hampson), C. minuticornis minuticornis (Guenee), C. orthograpta J Insect Behav (2007) 20:437–451 DOI 10.1007/s10905-007-9090-3