| Calyptra | |
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| Calyptra thalictri | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Subfamily: | Calpinae |
| Tribe: | Calpini |
| Genus: | Calyptra Ochsenheimer, 1816 |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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The genus Calyptra is a group of moths in subfamily Calpinae of the family Noctuidae. They are a member of the Calpini tribe. whose precise circumscription is uncertain but includes a number of other fruit-piercing or eye-frequenting genera currently classified in Calpinae.[1]
The common name of many of these species, vampire moth, refers to the habit that they have of drinking blood from vertebrates. According to a recent study, some of them (C. thalictri) are even capable of drinking human blood through skin.[2][3] However, the moths are not thought to cause any threat to humans.[4]
Some species of this genus have been classified with genus name Calpe and they include more than one blood-sucker.
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These insects have been changing their habitat in recent years. The species Calyptra thalictri was native to Malaysia, the Urals and Southern Europe,[5] but is turning up in northern Europe. In 2000, they were observed in Finland and in 2008 they were seen further west in Sweden. The Swedish observation was in Skutskär north of the capital Stockholm[4] whilst the sightings in Finland have been more numerous. It is found in southern Finland, in particular in the south east.[6]
The moth Calyptra thalictri has been seen to be associated with the plant meadow-rue.[7]
The difficulty of piercing the skin of a mammal by an insect is familiar in creatures such as mosquitoes, but the moth uses a specially developed proboscis to penetrate the skin of buffalo. A species in Malaysia was observed to use its hollowed out proboscis which is divided into two halves. The insect first rocks its attention from one half to the other until its pierces the skins. It then uses a rocking motion of its head to drill the tube deeper into the skin. It is the blood pressure of the victim that supplies the power to raise hooks on the proboscis that ensure the insect is not easily detached.[8] It is thought that the evolution of this moth's ability to pierce the skin of mammals would have started with an earlier ability to pierce fruit. Using the same ability to drink blood is just a natural extension of this skill.[4] After human skin has been penetrated it tends to turn red and be sore for the following two to three hours. Despite the wound being more severe than that of a mosquito it is thought that there is no health risk and the moths need not be avoided.[6]
Although it has been reported that moths have bitten humans in Asia, it was not until the summer of 1999 when a Russian scientist, Vladimir Kononenko, observed that this species of moth was capable of filling its stomach with human blood.[6] Only male moths exhibit this ability, as opposed to mosquitoes, where the female is the one that drinks blood.
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