Bradypodicola hahneli is a sloth moth

Sloth moth

Sloth moth is a generic term used to refer to coprophagous moths which have evolved to exclusively inhabit the fur of sloths and to use sloth dung as a substrate for the early stages of reproduction....

 in the Pyralidae

Pyralidae

The Pyralidae or snout moths are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many classifications, the grass moths are included in the Pyralidae as a subfamily, making the combined group one of the largest families in the Lepidoptera...

 family that lives exclusively in the fur of the Pale-throated Three-toed Sloth

Pale-throated Three-toed Sloth

The Pale-throated sloth is a species of three-toed sloth that inhabits tropical rainforests in northern South America. It is similar in appearance to, and often confused with, the brown-throated sloth, which has a much wider distribution...

 (Bradypus tridactylus), a three-toed sloth

Three-toed sloth

The three-toed sloths are tree-living mammals from South and Central America. They are the only members of the genus Bradypus and the family Bradypodidae. There are four living species of three-toed sloths...

 found in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. It is the only species of the Bradypodicola genus.

The three-toed sloth’s fur forms a micro-ecozone inhabited by green algae and hundred of insects. The fur provides a home and protection for the moth which feeds on the algae. It also deposits its eggs in the droppings of the sloth, where they pupate and hatch, and the newly hatched moths fly off to look for another sloth to live on.