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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) The Largest in the World? PBF Part 5 - Wordless Wednesday


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“Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas) The Largest in the World? PBF Part 5 - Wordless Wednesday”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on March 9th, 2011.


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To participate and/or view other entries, please visit Wordless Wednesday website here.



The moth has been sighted in John & Jacqs home garden in Malaysia. Her post is here.

Updated on 22 Aug 2011:

A pair of mating Atlas Moths
The male is on the left while the female is on the right. The female moth is larger, heavier but sexually passive. She does not stray far from her chrysalis but stay perched at an angle where the air currents can best carry her powerful pheromones. Male moths are smaller in size with more tapered wings. They are more active and they fly around nocturnally. Their large bushy antennae are equiped with chemoreceptors to help detect pheromones from several km away. This helps to track down their mate. Once mated, the female starts to lay eggs and hence begin another new life cycle of the Atlas Moth. The process of mating and oviposition can happen on the same day she is born!

Their life span is very short i.e. only 1-2 weeks and it seems that they live for the sole purpose of propagating the next generation. Such is the beauty of Nature!

There's a saying,
"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough".
~Rabindranath Tagore
Note: The image above has been published with permission from Ker Ai Choo. My grateful thank you very much.

31 comments:

  1. When i was a child one of these moths visited our house at night and landed on my back i was so terrified. Chinese believed that they are the reincarnation of our ancestors who come back to visit esp. if you see one around Qing Ming festival.

    BTW, I am sure your kaffir lime will surprise you one day with flowers and fruits.

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  2. Anonymous? This is quite scary because I don't know who is making this comment. I don't mind being visited by my ancestors though, if I knew who they are. Once I saw a pair of beautiful green oleander moths, close together, in my garden for 1 whole day and night. That was about 21 days after my dad's demise. You can read about it in my first ever post in this blog back in Mar 2008.

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  3. Maybe that is why my daughter doesn't like moths! Sorta strange story told by Anonymous!
    The moths are beautiful!

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  4. Rosey, I used to think that they are sinister looking too.

    Can you see the snake head on the wing tips?

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  5. WOW....I am so glad we don't have those here!!! Hope you are having a good week!

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  6. Very interesting. Can't say I like moths, but it looks beautiful on your pictures.

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  7. Jest duża i ładna, to fakt, ale chyba bym się jej nie bała. Pozdrawiam

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  8. Tootsie, Masha, Giga, Happy Morning! I haven't met someone who loves moth yet.

    Some additional info about this moth:
    1. Also known as Hercules Moth.

    2. The snake head at the tip of its forewings has an artificial eye. Birds who may want to eat will be scared-off when they suddenly see a snake which is their enemy!

    3. There are patterns on the moth which make it look like a butterfly.

    4. Its cocoon resemble a fruit hanging from a tree but you can't eat it!

    5. This moth won't bite us because it has no mouth!

    6. Moths are beneficial nocturnal creatures that pollinate night blooming flowers.

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  9. I've heard moths and butterflies being those that have recently passed on. Remember the Indy book? She is one of the believers. I see them so often, I must have countless of ancestors.

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  10. Diana, maybe we can call it a double headed snake wing-tipped butterfly-moth? Oh dear, I'm having grammar problems already.

    One, if the souls of the ancestors are reincarnated as moths,and if 2-way communication is possible, maybe we can make contact with realm of the netherworld.

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  11. It is good you put the video there, so more informative for other readers. Though it is not for me because i am very familiar with this moth. When we were young we have plenty of the larvae on custard apple or soursoup, and i am also afraid of them because they are as big as your thumb but double the length. It really looks scary. They finish the leaves of the tree in a few days. We cant touch it, but my father can. Once he brought one and showed it to my mother abruptly and so close to her face, she was so scared and run so fast while shouting! These days we seldom see these larvae anymore, maybe because lesser food. However, my niece told me once that an adult moth was trapped in the house one night. I hope they are still in our vicinity so they wont be depleted.

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  12. Andrea, I like your childhood story very much. It makes me laugh and think back about old times. I can't blame your mom for screaming in fright. When a big moth flew into our village home, I was scared too. My grandma told me not to touch their wings because the powder from the wings are poisonous and will blind us! Now we know that the powder is actually the butterflies scales. I also have this eerie feeling whenever I see a moth, as though some kind of omen. Now, that I know about their life cycle and characteristics after reading the displayed posters, I still have this creepy feeling. I mean, something that doesn't eat and dies after reproduction sounds so strange. Then, they are inactive in the day and comes out at night - this reminds me of dracula. Luckily they don't eat/suck/sting me!

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  13. Giga translated text: It is a fact that it is big and pretty. I'm not afraid.

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  14. I'm here again, i am not afraid of the moth, we actually like it. We are afraid of the very big catterpillars with stiffly looking protrusions. And their poos are as big as coffee beans, haha! The ground beneath the soursoup or santol tree is carpeted with larvae's excreta, and we cant even go near it. Yes, we are also told not to touch the adult because the scales ('bulo') might blind us. You will laugh more if i tell you that my mother almost cried because of fright, and he was angry with my father, who is naughty. He knows my mother is afraid of caterpillars.

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  15. You have started a story from a moth to reincarnation.

    Why not let the story to continue?

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  16. Oh, Andrea, caterpillar poo-poo like coffee beans? Now, my nescafe may taste a bit different. About your mom and dad, I also smile when you recall back about their adult games, like us children's play catch? I have not seen an Atlas moth yet. If I do, I'll take pictures and video!

    Rainfield, do you think the reincarnation start from the caterpillar or moth stage? Moths undergo metamorphosis. Reincarnation in humans is after death. Oh dear, oh dear, Anonymous has started this topic! Now I still don't know WHO??? is anonymous. Very very eerie. Next time, I must delete all anonymous comments.

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  17. Yeah the snake head..that's the first thing I saw was the eye and could not figure out why seeing an eye thought its a caterpillar until I read further. That's the beauty of nature to have 'self protection'. Great post with full details and pixz. tQ

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  18. I don't think we have moths that big. I wouldn't want one to land on my back at night. Ancestor or not.

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  19. Bananaz, yes, nature is awesome!

    Bom, the width of this moth spans the whole of my palm!

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  20. That's huge...and very beautiful! I also have that creepy feeling about moths. Can't understand why. Maybe it's because most of them fly at night. It's a treat to come and see your pictures, Autumn Belle.

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  21. Heisann!

    Amazing, unbelievable...never seen such a butterfly before or isn't it?!
    Have a nice weekend ;:OD)

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  22. beautiful photos and great info. thanks for sharing. i don't know if we have those here (in Thailand) but i would love to see one. i think moths are so beautiful. the word for moth in Thai literally means "shirt ghost of night" so i think the Thai people probably also believe (like the Chinese) that they are ghosts...

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  23. almost like a monarch butterfly

    happy weekend!

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  24. Kanak, the first moth was perched quite high on the tree while the second one, on the wall, like spiderman! I wonder how it can get a good grip on the wall.

    Vilt, yeah, this moth looks like a big brown butterfly.

    Tracy, thanks for your wonderful story. I learnt something new today.

    Ayie, maybe this moth looks like a furry furry monarch.

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  25. What a beauty! Thanks for sharing pics and info on it. We had one that visited us many moons ago and we were truly enthralled then. Traced back my article on it @ http://www.jaycjayc.com/attacus-atlas-moth/ specially for you, my dear friend!

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  26. This truly a very beautiful looking moth. I wonder when you mention that they do not have a mouth - do they still drink nectar? Or simply just continue to live by the fat and die after laying eggs - like the some insects do.

    Its a good thing that they are not driven to extinction by hunting, etc.

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  27. Jacqueline, thank you very much for the link!

    James, as stated in the info displayed in PBF and in wikipedia, they do not eat!

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  28. Thank you so much for notifying me of this awesome mating image. Never knew that their bodies are beautifully designed too. Great update, A. Belle!

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  29. hi Autumn Belle,

    love your post very much
    Keep it up ya
    cheers!!!

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  30. Jacqueline, yes, both of us certainly enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

    Ker Ai Choo, thank you very much for the encouraging words! You always welcome at MNG.

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