How Do Moth Clicks Decrease the Capture Success of Horseshoe Bats?

Moths are among the most diverse and abundant animals. They have evolved a suite of acoustic defenses, such as producing ultrasound to guard against predation by low-duty-cycle bats. Recently, we found that ultrasonic clicks several moth species can also help decrease capture success high-duty-cycle We tested whether could advertise toxicity and/or jam echolocation calls examined response hawkmoth (Cechenena minor) tiger (Creatonotos transiens) free-flying horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus osgoodi. C. minor transiens produced anti-bat with an average duty cycle 22.3% 4.9%, respectively. The overlapped spectrally R. occasionally emitted immediately after end bat feeding buzzes. did not overlap More than half click sequences were before emergence buzzes temporally Moreover, was palatable unpalatable These results suggest might be capable jamming osgoodi use warning signals. probably function toxicity. This study highlights diversity sounds illustrates potential mechanisms defense