#coremata

[onenicebugperday]

Baphomet moth, Creatonotos gangis, with coremata (inflatable scent organs) everted from inside the abdomen to attract a mate

Photographed in Australia by daintree_rainforest

[moths-daily]

Any creepy/fucked up/pos moths?

Oh, absolutely.

I'm about to introduce you to the creepiest thing moths have ever invented: coremata, also known as hair pencils.

They are tentacle-like structures certain male moths present to attract mates. They are really fucking creepy looking, so I will link below to some examples that you can open at your own risk.

X X X

[briery]

The coremata of Chionarctia nivea; a male tiger moth from Japan.

[onenicebugperday]

What's your opinion on Salt Marsh Moths?

A+ moth design!

Fat n fuzzy both as a moth and a caterpillar

Also really nice coremata!

:) Photos by robvanepps, jtmedaris, and sebert

[onenicebugperday]

I came upon this tiger moth called the Baphomet moth who looks like this

and I had a sneaking suspicion I knew why they are called that but boy howdy is it accurate!

Ope! If you guessed coremata that look like goat horns, you’d be right!

FYI he is hanging in that photo but I flipped it upside down. Photos by carolynstewart and naufalurfi (cropped and rotated)

And for those curious, coremata are scent organs in some male moths that are everted from the body, inflated either with air or hemolymph, and used to disperse pheromones to attract a nice lady moth :)

[onenicebugperday]

@5ab11​ submitted: A while ago I found an adorable black and orange caterpillar with black fuzz. Recently he emerged from his cocoon, I've lived in the Los Angeles area my whole life and never seen a moth like this.

Ohh!!! What an adorable fuzzy pal. That face! Precious. I would die for this moth. It’s a salt marsh moth and they’re actually quite common in southern California. The caterpillars can have a pretty huge range of coloration. I’ll share this one for funsies because it has goth vibes:

Photo by charley

And I’d also like to share this photo of a male with his coremata inflated! They’re used to disperse pheromones to find a mate and deflate back inside the body when not in use.

Photo by sebert

[onenicebugperday]

what are your thoughts on the gangis moth?? i adore every type of moth but this one scares me so bad but im sure its beautiful in its own way!!

Do you mean Creatonotos gangis? Why are you afraid of them? They don’t seem any different than other moths? Look at this pretty lad!

Photo by gancw1

Or is it the coremata that freak you out?

Photo by Jaan Manuel Sánchez

Those are just organs they inflate with air to help disperse pheromones to attract a mate and I assure you they aren’t dangerous in any way! In fact a lot of moth species have similar organs used to release pheromones. Definitely not scary, just cool science. :)

[onenicebugperday]

A very handsome moth. Edmonton, Alberta Canada.

Oh!! Extremely handsome salt marsh moth. Allow me to show you another angle because they are super pretty

Photo by dlawson

Danggg that’s a nice moth. ALSO if you see one with some weird stuff coming out of the butt end, don’t worry, it’s just the coremata - organs (that are normally deflated and stored inside the abdomen) they inflate with air to disperse their pheromones into the environment and lure in a mate:

Photo by sebert

Looks like he’s got weird legs! I love him. Anyway thanks for sharing! :)