A giant moth with the longest 'tongue' (proboscis) of all the world's insects — reaching a 11.2 inches — is a species in its own right, scientists have decided.
Hailing from Madagascar, the Darwin's Moth (Xanthopan praedicta) was labelled a subspecies of the the African mainland's Morgan's Sphinx (Xanthopan morganii).
The moth is notable for having been predicted to exist by Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, some 40 years before it was recorded in the wild.
Darwin had deduced that an insect with a long proboscis would have to exist in order to pollinate an orchid species he studied that bore an unusually long nectary.
A fresh study on the insects was undertaken by the Natural History Museum's Microlepidoptera ('smaller moths') curator David Lees and his colleagues.
Dr Lees and colleagues found that Xanthopan praedicta is significantly different from its mainland cousins, with a DNA barcode that is around 7.8 per cent distinct and proboscises that are typically some 2.6 inches longer.
Surprisingly, the longest proboscises of the Darwin's Moth were found among the males of the species.
This was despite proboscis length generally increasing with wingspan and female moths tending to be larger overall.
'Imagine my excitement as I unrolled and measured the proboscis of a male Xanthopan in the Madagascan rainforest, realising that it was probably the global record holder,' said Dr Lees.
'The taxonomic change we now propose finally gives long deserved recognition, at the species level, to one of the most celebrated of all [Madagascan natives].'
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Antenor.
Hailing from Madagascar, the Darwin's Moth (Xanthopan praedicta) was labelled a subspecies of the the African mainland's Morgan's Sphinx (Xanthopan morganii).
The moth is notable for having been predicted to exist by Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, some 40 years before it was recorded in the wild.
Darwin had deduced that an insect with a long proboscis would have to exist in order to pollinate an orchid species he studied that bore an unusually long nectary.
A fresh study on the insects was undertaken by the Natural History Museum's Microlepidoptera ('smaller moths') curator David Lees and his colleagues.
Dr Lees and colleagues found that Xanthopan praedicta is significantly different from its mainland cousins, with a DNA barcode that is around 7.8 per cent distinct and proboscises that are typically some 2.6 inches longer.
Surprisingly, the longest proboscises of the Darwin's Moth were found among the males of the species.
This was despite proboscis length generally increasing with wingspan and female moths tending to be larger overall.
'Imagine my excitement as I unrolled and measured the proboscis of a male Xanthopan in the Madagascan rainforest, realising that it was probably the global record holder,' said Dr Lees.
'The taxonomic change we now propose finally gives long deserved recognition, at the species level, to one of the most celebrated of all [Madagascan natives].'
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Antenor.
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Source: Daily Mail, NHM, Calacademy
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