Nature Done Wright

Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs

April 4, 2018

Age-old Cheese Mystery Solved

Screen Shot 2018-03-28 at 11.12.27 AMPhoto: Wikimedia Commons

For centuries, Europeans have pondered why Swiss cheese has so many annoying holes.

Mystery solved!

Researchers at the University of  Geneva announced last week that with the aid of high-tech infra-red cameras, they recorded a new subspecies of moth, Tineola bisselliella Gruyèrei.

The moths, which began as clothing moths eons ago, evolved their diet over the years, focusing mostly on cheesecloth before switching entirely to cheese.

The researchers believe the moths made the dietary adjustment in order to survive at higher altitudes.

The Swiss cheese moths' diet is not limited exclusively to cheese. They also eat Yodels and Ricola cough drops in their entirety instead of just boring into them, as they do with cheese.

Swiss moths were once thought to wear miniature lederhosen; this has since proven to be fake news — or, as the Swiss say, cuckoo.

More about cheese moths here.

Other April Fools Week posts include:

Strange Allendale Nighttime Cam Pics

Rare South Carolina Birding License

 

 

3 comments

  • That informative post on cheese was really grate. It was gouda hear that they solved the mystery. Most people are feta up with annoying holes. Of course some probably think this is a cheesy puff piece. If anyone wants to taco about that you can say, “I am nacho friend unless you appreciate my hard work in creating this post.”

  • Interesting.

Leave a comment.

3 comments

  • That informative post on cheese was really grate. It was gouda hear that they solved the mystery. Most people are feta up with annoying holes. Of course some probably think this is a cheesy puff piece. If anyone wants to taco about that you can say, “I am nacho friend unless you appreciate my hard work in creating this post.”

  • Interesting.

Leave your comment

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