Study: Hawk moths use sonar jamming genitals in fight against bats

Cechenena lineosa, one of the species of hawk moth used in the study.

goldentakin/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

Hawk moths may be jamming bat sonar signals by rubbing their genitals.

The behavior, reported in Biology Letters on 3 July, creates an ultrasonic noise that could be used to scare off an attacking bat by jamming the bat's sonar.

Radar jamming is a common tool in human warfare, clearing the way for aircraft to bomb enemy targets without detection. By flooding the radar frequency with noise, an attacker can render radar useless. A radar operator can resist by switching frequencies randomly, but modern attack techniques, reported to have been used by Israel during a 2007 attack on Syria, bypass traditional "jamming" altogether and straight-up hacks the enemy radar.