Stealth Hunters of Dusk

We have heard of stealth aircrafts that zooms in on target undetected. Here comes an equivalent from the nature world.

Researchers from the University of Bristol have discovered that barbastelle bats hunt moths using stealth technique.

Moths can usually hear bat echolocation signals and take evasive action to avoid being eaten. They have sensitive ears that pick up ultrasonic bat sounds.

Barbastelle bats produces echolocation calls up to 100 times quieter than those of other bats to hoodwink the moths. Moths can detect other bats more than 30 metres away, but the barbastelle gets as close as 3.5 metres using its modified echolocation calls. The bat zoos in before the moth becomes aware of the approaching bat.