Moths are little freaks. They eat your clothes, are obsessed with light, and now, according to new research, drink moose tears. No word yet on whether or not they drink them out of a mug that says “moose tears.”
According to a new study published in Ecosphere, detailed in Scientific American, researchers in Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest found moths exhibiting signs of lachryphagy. That’s the freaky behavior known as tear-feeding.
Lachryphagy isn’t exactly rare, but it is unusual. Butterflies and moths have been observed sipping eye secretions from turtles, crocodiles, and other large animals before. This is presumably to supplement their diet, which is heavy in nectar, so that they can get their sodium and minerals.
You won’t find that behavior much outside of tropical zones. Before this, the only documented example outside of the tropics was between a moth and a horse. Now we can add a bull moose to the list.
Yes, Moths in Vermont Are Drinking Moose Tears on Camera
A trail camera captured 80 images of moths clustered around the face of a male moose between 1:44 and 1:48 a.m. on June 19, 2024. They were the only images showing lachryphagy among more than 247,000 moose photos collected across nearly 500 sites across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
Neither moose nor moth in cold-weather areas had ever been previously recorded engaging in tear drinking. As far as anyone knows, the moose is a new host for this behavior altogether. The moths couldn’t be definitively identified, but the researchers think they likely belong to the Geometridae family, based on their size and shape.
It’s a strange behavior, but one that carries some dangers. The researchers note that tick feeding insects could, in theory at least, spread diseases like keratoconjunctivitis, which could seriously affect moose’s health.
Luckily, moths haven’t been documented to transmit diseases through tear-feeding to other animals, hence “theoretical.”
The post Vermont Moths Were Caught on Camera Drinking Moose Tears appeared first on VICE.
