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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Photo: Vampire Moth Discovered -- Evolution at Work


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A vampire moth in Siberia sucks blood from a researcher's hand. Scientists have found a previously unknown population of vampire moths that may have evolved from a fruit-eating species.

Only slight variations in wing patterns distinguish the Russian population from a widely distributed moth species, Calyptra thalictri, in Central and Southern Europe known to feed only on fruit.

Photograph by Sharon Hill