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 75 the adult and oviposition DHJanzen100157.jpg high resolution
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| The adult of Sysphinx mexicana is a large furry moth (the female in the image is about 5 cm long from head to wing tip) and flies through the vegetation at night in search of large and well foliated ant-acacias (which in nature, where ant colonies have not been experimentally removed, means ant-acacias occupied by large ant colonies). Finding an ant-acacia, she grabs a leafy branch and relatively slowly begins to lay her eggs (see below) one at a time, gluing them firmly to the underside of a leaf. Simultaneously, the ants patrolling that branch pile onto her and begin to bite and sting. At first, all they get is a mouthful (mandibleful) of yellow hair, but within a minute or two have gotten past that and down to the cuticle below the hair. When she feels this contact, she stops ovipositing and flees. That is to say, she has the normal escape behavior towards ants that is displayed by insects in general. However, while there, she has laid 4-6 eggs. If the ant-acacia is one that has experimentally had its colony removed, however, she keeps right on laying eggs until she has put as many as 25 on the ant-acacia. | ||
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