Jul 132011
I saw Mothra here just relaxing on a sidewalk right outside a store. Not sure what kind it is (I didn’t take mothematics in college), but it was fairly sizable. After pestering it for a few minutes for photographic purposes, it finally up and flew away. Which was probably for the best… hanging out on a sidewalk in front of a store is not a good strategy for long-term survival for a large conspicuous insect.
8 Responses to “Now THAT’s a Moth”
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Definitely some kind of hawk moth, or sphinx moth, looks like a Modest Sphinx, Pachysphinx modesta,
see here :-
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Pachysphinx-modesta
> looks like a Modest Sphinx
It does.
I’ve seen one of those also, and they are pretty large indeed.
Normally they rest on tree trunks for the sake of camouflaging themselves, so the one you saw may have been sick or dying.
My friend was lucky enough to see and photograph this monster last year:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/507815
It’s the largest moth in North America, with a wingspan of six to seven inches.
I helped him to submit the report to BAMONA, as it was the first confirmed sighting of one of those in this part of the state, and only the second in the entire state.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it myself, as it had flown off by the time he had gotten in contact with me.
I still have the full-size jpeg of that right out of his camera, which is so detailed that you can make out individual scales on its wings.
> the one you saw may have been sick or dying.
Ummm. From: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Pachysphinx-modesta we learn this: “Adult Food: Adults do not feed.”
It might’ve just been hungry.
They normally die pretty quickly after mating and laying their eggs if they are the non-feeding types.
Yours appears to be a male, based on the arched shape of the abdomen:
http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/pmodesta.htm
Photo of one that’s a dead ringer for yours here:
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/Files1/Live/JS/JS7828.jpg
Cats LOVE those things.
Great play value when they’re flying.
Large sphinx moths are often mistaken for hummingbirds, and can fly at a pretty good clip when they want to.
Here’s a video of one of the species that do feed after emerging in the adult form hovering over a flower to feed, just like a hummingbird.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_NxiD50-ZQ&NR=1
Great piece of parallel evolution, with even the wing shape being similar between the two wildly different creatures.