Fw: Warbler-killing Moth in Gulf of Mexico

[Cris Guppy or Aud Fischer]

This message originated on a birders list server (JohnCArvin at aol.com to
TEXBIRDS at list.audubon.org). Any one with ideas as to the moth? ..... Cris
Guppy

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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