# Sloth moth

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{{Short description|Type of moth}}
[[File:Bradypophila garbei.jpg|[Bradypophila garbei](/source/Bradypophila_garbei), a species of sloth moth.|thumb]]
A '''sloth moth''' is a [coprophagous](/source/coprophagous) [moth](/source/moth) which has evolved to exclusively inhabit the fur of [sloth](/source/sloth)s and to use sloth dung as a substrate for the early stages of reproduction. Sloth moths include ''[Bradypodicola hahneli](/source/Bradypodicola_hahneli)'',<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology">{{cite journal |last1=Gilmore |first1=D. P. |last2=Da Costa |first2=C. P. |last3=Duarte|first3=D. P. F.|year=2001 |title=Sloth biology: an update on their physiological ecology, behavior and role as vectors of arthropods and arboviruses |journal=Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research |publisher=Ribeirão Preto |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=9–25 |url=http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjmbr/v34n1/3877m.pdf |doi=10.1590/S0100-879X2001000100002 |issn=1678-4510 |pmid=11151024|doi-access=free }}</ref> ''[Cryptoses choloepi](/source/Cryptoses_choloepi)'',<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/> ''[Cryptoses waagei](/source/Cryptoses_waagei)'',<ref name="Bradley">{{cite journal |last1=Bradley |first1=J. D. |year=1982 |title= Two new species of moths (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Chrysauginae) associated with the three-toed sloth (Bradypus spp.) in South America |journal=Acta Amazonica |volume=12 |issue= 3|pages=649–656 |url=http://acta.inpa.gov.br/fasciculos/12-3/PDF/v12n3a17.pdf |doi= 10.1590/1809-43921982123649|bibcode=1982AcAma..12..649B |access-date=15 February 2011 |doi-access=free }}</ref> ''[Cryptoses rufipictus](/source/Cryptoses_rufipictus)'',<ref name="Bradley"/> and ''[Bradypophila garbei](/source/Bradypophila_garbei)''.<ref name="Bradley"/>

Certain lepidopteran moths of the [snout moth](/source/Pyraloidea) family [Pyralidae](/source/Pyralidae) (namely [subfamily](/source/subfamily) [Chrysauginae](/source/Chrysauginae)) have evolved to inhabit sloth fur exclusively. Typically, sloth moths follow a life-style broadly on the lines of ''[Cryptoses choloepi](/source/Cryptoses_choloepi)'', a moth in the [snout moth](/source/Pyralidae) family that lives exclusively in the fur of the brown three-toed sloth ''[Bradypus variegatus infuscatus](/source/Bradypus_variegatus)''. Adult female moths leave the fur of the sloth to lay eggs in the sloth droppings when the sloth descends, once a week, to the forest floor to defecate. The larvae of ''Cryptoses choloepi'' live in the dung and newly emerged moths later fly from the dung pile into the forest canopy to find a host sloth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rau |first1=P |year=1941 |title=Observations on certain lepidopterous and hymenopterous parasites of Polistes wasps |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |volume=34 |issue= 2|pages=355–366(12) |doi= 10.1093/aesa/34.2.355}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Waage |first1=Jeffrey K. |last2=Montgomery |first2=G. Gene |year=1976 |title=Cryptoses choloepi: A Coprophagous Moth That Lives on a Sloth |journal=Science |volume=193 |issue=4248 |pages=157–158 |doi=10.1126/science.193.4248.157 |bibcode=1976Sci...193..157W |pmid=17759254 |s2cid=32766454 }}</ref>

Chrysaugine moths, such as ''[Cryptoses](/source/Cryptoses)'' spp., spend their lives as adults in the fur of sloths, particularly the three-toed species, except when the sloths descend to defecate and females fly to the sloth dung to [oviposit](/source/oviposit). An imbalance in population sex ratios favouring males has been noticed and surmised as female moths not making it back to host sloths after ovipositing.<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/>

[[File:9092 - Milano - Museo storia naturale - Diorama - Bradypus trydactilus - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 22-Apr-2007.jpg|thumb|right|[Pale-throated sloth](/source/Pale-throated_sloth) (''Bradypus tridactylus'')|256x256px]]
Sloth moths are thought to get nutrients from the secretions of the sloths' skin and the algae present on the fur, as well as protection from avian predators.<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/>

Some individual three-toed sloths have been recorded carrying more than 120 moths in their fur. Two-toed sloths are recorded as harbouring lower populations. Several different moth species may coexist on the same host animal.<ref name="Sloth arthropod biology"/>

==See also==
* [Arthropods associated with sloths](/source/Arthropods_associated_with_sloths)

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Pyraloidea<!-- might be Pyralidae only -->
Category:Moths of South America
Category:Coprophagous insects
Category:Sloths

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Pauli |first1=Jonathan N. |last2=Mendoza |first2=Jorge E. |last3=Steffan |first3=Shawn A. |last4=Carey |first4=Cayelan C. |last5=Weimer |first5=Paul J. |last6=Peery |first6=M. Zachariah |date=2014 |title=A syndrome of mutualism reinforces the lifestyle of a sloth |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=281 |issue=1778 |article-number=20133006 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.3006 |pmid=24452028 |pmc=3906947 |doi-access=free }}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sloth moth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth_moth) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloth_moth?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.