Giant Atlas Moth by keeneye

Photography • Creatures • posted on May 11, 2009

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Description

A fortunate find for me... some facts: The Atlas Moth has the largest wing surface area of all moths... It is so named because its wing patterns resemble maps. The Atlas Moth's wings have triangular transparent "windows" whose purpose we don't know. The wing tips are hooked and some say resemble a snake's head complete with eye, to scare off predators. Breeding: Female Atlas Moths attract males by secreting a pheromone through a gland at the end of the abdomen. The male Atlas Moths has huge long feathery antennae to track down the female by her pheromones. The females are much larger than the males and don't have feathery antennae. Atlas Moth eggs are laid on the underside of a leaf. They hatch in 8-14 days depending on the temperature. The caterpillars are bluish green with large bumps on them, and covered with a fine white powder. Adult Atlas Moths don't eat at all throughout their adult life which lasts for about two weeks. An adult Atlas Moth doesn't even have a mouth and lives off fat reserves built up when it was a caterpillar. The adults quickly mate, lay eggs, and die shortly thereafter.

Comments (16)

thevolunteer

10:07PM | Mon, 11 May 2009

What a beautiful moth. Wonderful coloring. I can see why it is called Atlas Moth. Great macro. Aloha

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looksee

10:16PM | Mon, 11 May 2009

Wow, this is spectacular!!!!!! Thanks for the info too... They don't live long do they??

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nongo

10:30PM | Mon, 11 May 2009

Beautiful catch keeneye, these are huge moths!!!! Such amazing colors too! I love the top part of the wings that look like a snake, pretty clever mother nature!!!!

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LENK911

11:58PM | Mon, 11 May 2009

SO INTERESTING AND SO BEAUTIFUL. GREAT FIND AND CAPTURE.

jazzmyn

12:20AM | Tue, 12 May 2009

The outer edge of the wings to me, looks like Native American artwork!!! Incredible, excellent info & capture!!!!! I'd love to see this in real life!!!! Thanks for sharing this with us!!!!!!

MrsLubner

12:42AM | Tue, 12 May 2009

This is one I haven't seen and wish I had! Stunning shot and a most stellar find!

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