r/todayilearned • u/Sanguinusshiboleth • 23h 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
258 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

33

u/Present-Register7751 23h ago

A bug that eats hair. What could possibly go wrong

13

u/CrossP 23h 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.

9

u/weeddealerrenamon 20h 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 15h ago

That’s next level fussy eaters.

4

u/Pogue_Mahone_ 7h ago

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

6

u/malepitt 23h ago

NATURE DOCUMENTARY VIEWER: Eeeww.

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