Scientists thought butterflies were deaf until 1912 when the first
butterfly ears were identified. Only in the past decade or so have
researchers examined the anatomy and physiology of butterfly ears, which
they are finding to be quite diverse and present in several butterfly
species.
The latest discovery was made with the blue morpho butterfly (Morpho peleides), which dazzles with its bright-blue wing coloration when it flits about in its native Central and South America... In the new study, Kathleen Lucas of the University of Bristol in England
and her colleagues were interested in the odd-looking hearing membrane
that sits at the base of the blue morpho's wing. The tympanal membrane,
as it is called, is oval-shaped with a dome at its center that kind of
resembles the yolk at the center of a fried egg, Lucas said...
Taken together, the vibrational and nerve recordings suggest this
butterfly can distinguish between different pitches, though further
research is needed to confirm this ability.
Text from
Live Science (more info there and at
the J. Exp. Biol. publication). Photo via
animals, animals, animals (original source uncredited). A macro view of the ear structure is posted at
MSNBC.
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