Greater Wax Moth Has World's Most Extreme Hearing Don't say anything that you wouldn't want the greater wax moth to hear. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, reported that the moth has the world's most extreme hearing. The researchers determined that the moth, which is brown and feeds on honeycomb, is capable of sensing sound frequencies of up to 300 kilohertz. Humans can hear sounds up to 20 kilohertz. The figure drops to about 15 kilohertz in adults. Dolphins, known for their keen sense of hearing, can't hear above about 160 kilohertz. Like most things in nature, there's a reason the greater wax moth's hearing is so sensitive. "The moth's hearing has evolved because of predation," said Hannah M. Moir, one of the researchers involved in the study, which was published in the journal Biology Letters. Bats use high-frequency echolocation calls to find the moths and other insects and to prey on them. But it appears that the moths can hear at frequencies that bats may not. "It's a bit of a question as to why the moths actually need to hear that high," Dr. Moir said. She added that recording at high-frequency ultrasound is a challenge, so it may be that the bats are capable of emitting calls as high as the moths can hear. Dr. Moir and her colleagues used a custom-built ultrasonic transducer that emitted high frequencies and then measured the moths" neural responses with electrodes. Studying the structure and functionality of the greater wax moth's ear could help researchers build miniature microphones, Dr. Moir said.