Entomologists Identify Moth Species That Evolved To Fly Out Of Poor People’s Wallets

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CAMBRIDGE—Shedding new light on the diversity of the insect world, a team of Harvard entomologists announced Thursday that they identified a previously unclassified moth species that had evolved to fly out of poor people’s wallets. “Though sightings of this wallet-dwelling specimen have been reported for centuries, we’d never been able to conclusively prove it was its own separate species,” said lead researcher Melanie Lasman, telling reporters that the moth had survived by developing a parasitic relationship with the billfolds of the measliest paupers or, in rare occasions, an extremely stingy miser. “These insects thrive in the dark, cool space of an empty wallet, typically only emerging into a dining establishment or place of business after the cash-strapped bozo has pulled out his pockets and taken a tiny peek into the leather pouch.” Lasman added this was the largest breakthrough in the field since scientists identified the species of fly that accumulate in a cloud around someone who smells bad.