Monday 14 November 2011

One big moth

Whoops, I'm at it again. Must be the warm weather - we're heading for the mildest November in 363 years. Fact. I'm not trapping, though, just passing on these fine pics from a friend of mine Kate Dundas, who is out in Borneo and - VERY lucky woman - saw this Great Atlas moth alive and snoozing. Here it is, plus a reflection of Kate in her mobile phone, neat eh?


This is the biggest moth in the world; and I have one! Yes. It is dead, I have to admit. My old primary school teacher Miss Cynthia, aka Cynthia Harvey of St Agnes school in Headingley, Leeds, brought it back from Malaya in the 1950s and gave it to me many years later when she realised that I was seriously interested in butterflies and moths.


Here it is from a past blogpost in 2008, the debut year of this long and winding journal. I would have compared it to a London bus but didn't have one - just this souvenir from New York. Now I will return to hibernation (although I will be back soon with more Americana: the Invasion of the Terrible Black Ladybirds).

2 comments:

Cyren said...

Such a lovely moth!!!

I managed to procure a larva and two cocoons of this species a couple of months back, sadly none made it to adult hood. Ant attack.

MartinWainwright said...

Hi Cyren, good to hear from you. How lucky you are, to have these vast things floating around. I'd lovely to see one in flight. Imagine catching it in the car headlights...

Sorry you didn't manage to breed them this time. If at first you don't succeed, try again!

all warm wishes

Martin