Silk Moth

[tiggymalvern]

The other evening, we had a larger than usual visitor to our windows after dark.


The SO conveniently provided a hand inside the window for scale. It would look more impressive if his hands were smaller!


It's a polyphemus moth, a member of the giant silk moth family. They're supposed to be common, but this is the first one I've seen in 5 years here. I suppose on the same grounds that some species of owls are common, but you don't set eyes on too many of those either, unless you make a habit of prowling the woods after dark.

Sadly, it never did unfold its wings completely, so we didn't get to see the huge eye spots on the lower wings. Anyway, I thought it was fabulous, and I thought I'd share :-)

Comments

[imre-nico.livejournal.com]

Omg! Those have a really short window of lifespan and appearance annually- I've only seen one in my lifetime!

It slapped me in the crotch on a camping trip while we were sitting around a fire.

My photos got erased, but even if I'd had them, really failed to show the magnitude of the beast.

Yours do it justice!

Gorgeous!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Yeah, like a lot of moths, they don't feed, just hatch, lay eggs and die, poor things. Seems like a waste to me. And up here in the cold north we only get one generation a year - we'd see more down in Louisiana, I suspect.