Vampire bats invade Finland thanks to global warming
mongabay.com
June 4, 2007
Global warming has brought blood-sucking moths to Finland reports Reuters.
More than 100 Calyptra thalictri vampire bats have been spotted in the Scandinavian country since 2000. Scientists say the species is occasionally known to feed on the blood of mammals and Finnish nature magazine “Suomen Luonto” reported, in June, the first pictures of the moth feeding on a human.
Until recently temperatures in Finland were too cold for the southeast Asian species.
Related article
Tear-sucking moth in Madagascar feeds on bird eyes. Biologists have documented the first known case of moths feeding on the tears of birds. The research, published in the January 4 2007 issue of the journal Biology Letters, reports that the Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica moth “attacks sleeping birds in Madagascar” using its sharply barbed proboscis to penetrate the bird’s eye. While similar behavior has been reported in mammals, this is the first known case of tear-feeding on birds.
