Evolved Moths
An unnamed species of evolved moths[a] is the main antagonist of the one-shot Bruschetta, the twelfth episode of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series. These carnivorous moths native to the Big Island of Hawaii cause debilitating audio sensitivity in other organisms that inhale scales shed from their wings as an adaptation to track down their relatively silent snail prey.
Appearance
These insects are an unnamed moth species found on the island of Hawai'i near Rohan Kishibe's villa. They are light-colored, with patterned forewings and a thorax that distinctly resembles the Stone Mask when viewed from above. The pattern on their wings consists of a circular symbol resembling a mitsudomoe, with three comma-like swirls touching in the center. The circle connects to a jagged line on one side and a curved line on the other side, creating a five-petaled flower-like shape at the end of the wing.
Biology
The moths are a carnivorous species that preys on snails and slow-moving herbivorous insects. It feeds by piercing the skin and consuming the hemolymph of their prey. These moths lurk in the shadows under leaves and in places out of sight.[2] They often aggregate near the doors and windows of human dwellings to ensure that humans inhale the dusty scales that they shed, having settled on humans as a suitable host species for the sonar amplifying effect.[3] The moths have an extreme aversion to the chemical cineole, the primary compound in eucalyptus oil.[4]
When a human inhales the powdery dust-like scales shed by this species of moth's wings, it turns the human body into an echo chamber, amplifying all sounds in their immediate vicinity such that the moths can hunt their preferred and otherwise silent snail prey. The moths then follow infected humans around to ensure proximity to their amplifiers; multiple hosts create an overlapping mesh of "signals" similar to a Wi-Fi relay, allowing the moths to triangulate snail locations with high precision.[3]
Abilities
Hyperacusis Inducement
The inhaled moth wing scales have the side effect in humans that they become hypersensitive to all sound, causing symptoms similar to both tinnitus and hyperacusis. Even the slightest of noises, such as a nail scratching the floor,[5] a fingertip tapping glass,[6] or the rustling of a leaf reverberates loudly inside the host's skull.[7] This ultimately causes nausea in its victims,[8] and being near a snail intensifies the symptoms, even causing the victim's ears to ooze an unusual discharge.[9] With the proximity to a snail, any sound painfully resonates throughout the host's entire body; they lose their balance and collapse, with even the sound of a footstep making them feel as if their eardrum will rupture.[10] They cannot use a phone either, as the sound of their fingers tapping on the screen becomes equally unbearable.[8]
The effect of the dust is not poisonous or deadly, but simply incapacitating, as it ensures that the moths' living sonar relay is kept alive and functional. From what Soa was taught by her parents, the effects of the moths and snails are permanent once it is inhaled, but keeping away from snails will reduce symptoms.[8] However, Rohan Kishibe is able to use Heaven's Door to discover the moths' aversion to cineole and cures himself and Soa with a tea of Eucalyptus leaves.[4]
History
Background
Rohan Kishibe theorizes that the moths are a newly evolved species from the jungle near his villa in Hawaii, implying that they might have a Stand ability as he states that the island is brimming with "life energy".[1]
About nine days prior to Rohan returning to his villa, the moths infest a nearby villa. They disperse their scales, debilitating Soa and her parents.[8]
Bruschetta
After seeing that Rohan's villa is occupied again, the moths surround its windows and doors, waiting for him to inhale their scales.[11] He becomes affected by their ability and starts hearing noises around his house. After investigating, he encounters Soa, whose ear starts oozing due to a nearby snail. Rohan's ear then starts oozing as well, and he learns the cause by using Heaven's Door on Soa.
The moths use Rohan and Soa to hunt several snails that are on Rohan's nearby plants. On the verge of collapse, Rohan finds the willpower to grab one of the moths and use Heaven's Door on it to uncover their weakness. Boiling the leaves from a eucalyptus tree in his backyard, Rohan drinks the extract and cures both himself and Soa, repelling the moths.[4]
Chapters
Gallery
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Moth feeding on a snail -
Rohan catches one of the moths -
The moths surround Rohan
Trivia
- Real moths of the genus Acherontia, otherwise known as the death's-head hawkmoth, have a pattern on the back of the thorax that resembles a human skull, not unlike the Stone Mask design appearing on the thoraces of these fictional moths.
Notes
- ↑ No name is given to the moths in the original Japanese text, which simply refers to them as a moth (蛾, Ga) species that evolved.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p.50
- ↑ Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 39.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 43.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 48.
- ↑ Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 15.
- ↑ Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 20.
- ↑ Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 21.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 30.
- ↑ Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 32.
- ↑ Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 33.
- ↑ Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 12: Bruschetta, p. 40.
