Moths may not appear to have much going for them, but they could be about to spark a revolution in technology.
Scientists have found that the greater wax moth has fantastic hearing – far greater than any other living creature.
This amazing ability could help scientists create new microphone technology for use in items such as mobile phones and hearing aids.
The discovery, made by scientists at the University of Strathclyde, was reported this week in The Independent.
The wax moth can be found in the UK and is capable of hearing frequencies more than 100 higher than the human voice.
Dr James Windmill, who led the research project, told The Independent: “I am very interested to see how the moth’s ear works generally to help make better, and smaller, microphones.
“These could be put in a wide range of devices such as mobile phones and hearing aids.”
The high achieving little insect also uses echolocation, which is where it bounces sound off other objects to work out where they are and how far away.
Dr Windmill said: “This could be used to enable robots to communicate and find their way around. You could put them in situations like testing oil platforms and nuclear installations that would be dangerous to humans.”
It’s amazing what animals are capable of. Apparently eagles can see four times better than humans, bears can smell five times better and the jewel beetle can sense a fire from around 50 miles away.
I’m not sure I’d like the bear’s sense of smell, that could get on your nerves after a while, especially when taking a Sunday stroll in a popular dog-walking area.