FW: Warbler-killing Moth in Gulf of Mexico

[Mike Quinn]

Would appreciate any ideas on what this Moth may have been. 
Thanks, Mike Quinn

-----Original Message-----
From: JohnCArvin at aol.com [mailto:JohnCArvin at aol.com]
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2001 6:30 PM
To: Mike.Quinn at tpwd.state.tx.us; TEXBIRDS at list.audubon.org

Mike,
I pass along the following observation for what it is worth. In the spring
of 
1998 I spent the period early March through mid May on an offshore petroleum

platform 80 miles off the coast of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Late in the 
season (I don't remember the exact date but it was in early May) we had an 
influx of tiny moths on my platform. Grounded migrants eagerly snapped these

up. On a platform census I observed an adult male Magnolia Warbler hopping 
along on the deck snapping up the small moths. This bird came upon a much 
larger moth (almost an inch long and relatively fat) that had a hairy orange

body. It pounced on this moth and immediately slung its head violently 
sideways to sling the moth out of its beak. It then began to frantically rub

its bill against the deck as if to wipe away whatever residue from the moth 
remained. Shortly it began to go into convulsions. As my census was 
time-limited I had to resume it. Upon its completion I returned and found
the 
warbler dead and the moth still present. I collected both and sent them in
to 
the project leadership, along with an anecdotal account of what had 
transpired. I have never heard the result of any toxicology report (if 
performed) so I don't know what species the moth was nor what toxicity it
may 
have possessed. Still, it does indicate that some lepidopterids can be very 
toxic.
John Arvin

 
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