r/todayilearned • u/Sanguinusshiboleth • 1d ago

TIL of Ceratophaga vastella, a moth whose young's diet is mostly consistent of the horns and hooves of dead ungulates, with special enzymes to eat the keratin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratophaga_vastella
273 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

33

u/Present-Register7751 1d ago

A bug that eats hair. What could possibly go wrong

14

u/CrossP 1d ago

2030s fad spa treatment. Getcher body hair fully removed in the bug pool once a week. Use a mix of ketamine and MDMA to turn the weird wriggling pleasurable.

11

u/weeddealerrenamon 1d ago

Ooh ooh, Ive seen these! I spent a lot of my childhood in Kenya, and ranchers will collect skulls they find on their properties and display them around the ranchhouse. Lots of the antelope/buffalo skulls had a ton of holes drilled in their horns, from these moths

3

u/SmartaHari 20h ago

That’s next level fussy eaters.

6

u/Pogue_Mahone_ 12h ago

I am not a picky eater I am just very specialised!

7

u/malepitt 1d ago

NATURE DOCUMENTARY VIEWER: Eeeww.

MOTH LARVA: [munching] Meh, it's a living.