Tympanal organ

[5] Within the organ, particular structures vary in shape and are used to indicate shared ancestry of subfamilies.

Tympanal organs have evolved in Lepidoptera to allow them to detect the echolocation calls of predatory bats.

[6] In the presence of predatory bats, it has been shown that the Lepidoptera species Mythimna unipuncta (true armyworm) stops mating behaviors, such as female calling and male wing flapping.

[7] As well, hearing is important for mating behaviors in this species because females increase their flapping frequency around males and males produce a trembling noise in response.

[8] Maes (1985) has provided an extensive overview of tympanal organs in the moth family Pyralidae which also introduces some nomenclature: [9] Scoble, MJ.