The rare oriental blue clearwing, that
disguises itself as a bee, was spotted in the Malaysian rainforest
Friday 15 December
2017 15.59 GMTLast modified on Saturday 16 December
2017 00.05 GMT
A moth that disguises itself as a bee and was
previously only identified by a single damaged specimen collected in 1887 has
been rediscovered in the Malaysian rainforest by a lepidopterist from Poland.
The oriental blue clearwing (Heterosphecia tawonoides) was seen
“mud-puddling” – collecting salts and minerals from damp areas with its
tongue-like proboscis – on the banks of a river in Malaysia’s lowland
rainforest, one of the most wildlife-rich – and threatened – regions on Earth.
Four individuals of the rare moth, which
shines strikingly blue in sunshine, were collected for genetic analysis and
examination of their genitalia, which confirmed that the specimens belonged to
this “lost species”.
The 1887 specimen was collected in Indonesia
but Marta Skowron Volponi of the University of Gdańsk rediscovered the species
when she saw a flash of brilliant blue on the banks of unpolluted rivers
flowing through lowland rainforest on the Peninsula Malaysia.
On three field trips in 2013, 2016 and 2017,
Skowron Volponi and her co-author and husband, filmmaker Paolo Volponi,
observed and filmed just 12 individuals, suggesting the elusive moth is
extremely rare.
In a paper for
Tropical Conservation Science, Skowron Volponi described how the oriental
blue clearwing was the only moth or butterfly seen mud-puddling among the bees
it mimicked.
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