Lucerne Moth

Fascinating facts about the Lucerne Moth

• When faced with bat sonar, Nomophila nearctica skips the dramatic plunge that many moths use as a last-ditch defense. Instead, it turns away or flies erratically even when hearing loud ultrasonic pulses above 60 dB SPL, avoiding the risky "passive dive" that drops a moth to the ground. This early-escape tactic, revealed by experiments showing the moth never performed passive dives, likely lets it stay airborne and outmaneuver hunting bats, illustrating a sophisticated predator-avoidance strategy evolved in night-flying insects.
• The lucerne moth blankets an enormous stretch of North America, ranging from southern Canada through every U.S. state and spilling southward into Mexico and the Neotropics.
• Lucerne moth caterpillars are culinary generalists, munching on celery, grasses, lucerne, Medicago sativa, Polygonum, Melilotus and various other low-growing herbaceous plants.

At a glance

About the Lucerne Moth

In the whispered hours of dawn, the Lucerne Moth stirs, its delicate wings unfolding like translucent petals as it takes to the air. With a hypnotic flutter, it dances across the dewy landscape, its gentle flight a mesmerizing ballet of light and shadow, as it seeks out the lush foliage of its favored hosts. As it alights upon a leaf, its slender body glistens with dew, a tiny, ephemeral jewel suspended in the morning's golden haze.

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