moths and snakes

Andrea Hoffmann hoffmann at singnet.com.sg
Fri Oct 2 13:01:34 EDT 1998


hi folks,

last weekend i was in the jungle at night and baiting moths. strangely
enough there where hardly any moths. i was at the same old tried place,
same bait, most of the usual trees, same conditions as usual and moths were
extremely scarce. 

even the species that are usually pretty plentiful where either not present
at all, or only 1 or 2 of them.

after about 2 hours we suddenly came across a 2 - 2.5 metre long snake in
the tree above our heads. it was a bit scary as we didn't know what kind of
snake it was. i checked my books (but not any experts yet) and it was
either the dog-toothed cat snake or more likely a juvenile reticulated
python (they can reach nearly 10m!!) but both of them are not harmful to
humans.

well, after seeing this snake i thought whether it was possible that the
presence of the snake could have scared away the moths? would the moths
know? or sense it? or what? or is that just too hare-brained to contemplate?

i'd appreciate any input

andrea :)
_______________________________________________________________________
Andrea's Page: http://www.singnet.com.sg/~hoffmann
Butterflies:   http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/2290/index.htm


More information about the Leps-l mailing list