Many adaptations evolved in prey animals in response to predation threat, such as mimicry to trick the visual system, spines to mechanically prevent predation, or behavioural adaptations. A common anti-predator behaviour is unpredictable movement, so called protean behaviour.
The bat-moth interaction is a classic example to study this kind of behaviour. With their ultrasound sensitive ears, many moth species can detect the echolocation calls of insectivorous bats. Upon detecting a bat, they elicit evasive flight manoeuvres to escape the attacker. The simplicity of the auditory system of moths and the fact that this predator-prey interaction is purely based on sound, make bats and moths a great model system for studying the function, ecology and evolution of auditory-guided behaviour.
The aim of this project is to study the escape flight of moths as the predator-selected phenotype, and link it to the neurobiology, additional anti-predator strategies, and ecology of moth species; and to the predation strategies of echolocating bats.