Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Sloths: you probably know them as the most adorable creatures on the planet. But, you
might want to think twice before snuggling with one, because their fur is actually home
to whole communities of organisms—some of them not so cute.
To begin with, sloths are often covered in green symbiotic algae, which keeps them camouflaged
in the trees where they live. But that's not all—their fur is also home to sloth moths.
Over 120 sloth moths have been found on a single sloth at a time. There are a few different
species, but most of them have pretty similar lifestyles. They live in the sloth's fur,
and feed on the algae, along with sloth skin secretions. They even mate on the sloth. On
three-toed sloths, when it's time for the females to lay their fertilized eggs, they
wait until the sloth takes a bathroom break. This doesn't happen very often—three-toed
sloths only climb down from their tree about once a week to poop—when they do, the female
moths lay their eggs in the poop.
Soon the eggs hatch, and coprophagous, or poop-eating moth larvae emerge. And, when
the larvae mature, they fly up into the trees looking for another sloth to colonize.
This is all very well for the moths, but this bizarre bathroom behavior has puzzled scientists
for years—being close to the ground makes sloths vulnerable to predators, so why bother
leaving the canopy for a trip to the toilet?
Recently, scientists suggested that the sloths are actually getting a meal out of this deal.
It turns out that the moths may help cultivate the fur algae by providing it nutrients. And
the algae may do more than just camouflage—the sloths may actually eat it, as well. It's
a tiny ecosystem, all in the fur of a sloth.
But, algae and poop-eating sloth moths are just the beginning. Sloths also harbor scarab
beetles in their fur—as many 980 of them on a single sloth!—along with mites that
live in their skin and in their butts. And on top of that, they have been known to carry
a variety of human diseases, including leishmaniasis, a single-celled parasite that causes major
skin lesions.
Of course, this menagerie living in their fur makes sloths an important part of the
Central American ecosystem. So, while we should do our parts to preserve sloths and their
habitats, you might want to think twice before hugging one. Unless you'd like to snuggle
with a few moths, as well.