{"id":1205,"date":"2025-08-29T10:10:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T10:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pawel.wpexpart.com\/?p=1205"},"modified":"2026-08-14T06:29:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T06:29:50","slug":"2025-08-plume-moth-lisbon-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pawel.stefanoff.pl\/bugs\/posts\/2025-08-plume-moth-lisbon-en\/","title":{"rendered":"The living twig: Unmasking the plume moths in a botanical garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tamarisk plume moth (<em>Agdistis tamaricis<\/em>) is a small micro-lepidopteran of the family <em>Pterophoridae<\/em>, first described by German entomologist Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1847. Boasting a wingspan of 18\u201327 mm and larvae that feed exclusively on tamarisk plants, it is best known for its striking &#8216;Y&#8217;-shaped resting posture. I spotted one sitting completely motionless in the Lisbon Botanic Garden, perfectly mimicking a brittle, dried twig. In fact, its camouflage was so flawless that it wasn&#8217;t until I zoomed in on my camera screen to review my macro shots that I noticed its eyes and realized it wasn&#8217;t a piece of plant debris after all! Unlike typical plume moths that rest in a distinct &#8216;T&#8217; shape, this species holds its wings angled forward while propping up its forebody on slender legs. Rather than forming solid sheets, its wings are deeply cleft into delicate, feather-like plumes, which it rolls tightly at rest to minimize its silhouette. By combining this ingenious mimicry with absolute immobility, this nocturnal marvel effortlessly vanishes from the sight of hungry daytime predators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tamarisk plume moth (Agdistis tamaricis) is a small micro-lepidopteran of the family Pterophoridae, first described by German entomologist Philipp [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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