Moths?

Moths?

Moths? Moths. Moths moths moths :)

Is the atlas moth really the biggest moth out there? (spoiler alert: there are different ways of measuring 'big')

Largest by wingspan - the white witch moth:

Wingspan: around 30 cm max

Fun fact: despite its large size the eggs, pupa and caterpillars of this moth remain undocumented. Check out the white witch watch for more info.

Largest by wing area - the female hercules moth:

Wing surface area: 300 square cm

Largest by weight - the female giant wood moth:

Weight: 30 g max

Largest overall - the female atlas moth:

Wingspan: largest recorded 30 cm

Wing area: 157 square cm, according to this site, which doesn't cite any source for that info

Although it's listed in the guiness book of world records as the largest moth, I'm confused as to why that is. The wingspan of the white witch moth is bigger, and the wingspan of the hercules moth is bigger, according to Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society by Robert G. Foottit and Peter H. Adler. The wing surface area of the hercules moth is also bigger according to Amazing Numbers in Biology by Rainier Flindt.

Note on conflicting information: Many of the general use sites I happened upon while trying to find sources closer to the primary source incorrectly quoted this article, sometimes saying Attacus caesar has the second largest wingspan of all moths, and sometimes incorrectly quoting the atlas' moth wingspan as 24 cm or 27 cm when it was 262 mm/26.2 cm in the original article. In my opinion, the atlas moth can't rightfully be called the largest overall moth, but it does hold the record, with the largest wingspan recorded being 30 cm (in the guiness world record).

Image sources:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Information sources:

White witch wingspan

Hercules moth wing surface area and wingspan

Giant wood moth weight

Atlas moth

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#mefr

can I nerd out about moths pls pls pls I love all of them I want to study them so bad they’re so interesting I love mothehhhgggtattsratarggggahagagaghahshbdbdb

update: I nerded out about moths

Saturniid Moths

(aka those moths with the eyes)

Moths from the Saturniidae family are probably the most well known moth species around. This family has approximately 1500 species distributed worldwide, although they're more common in tropical areas. They have these fake eyes that they don't display when at rest, but when disturbed, they flap their wings, displaying eyes made to mimic owl or snake eyes, and that gives them enough time to escape their predators. These eyes are easily their most recognizable feature. They also have very large wings, the largest saturniid has a wingspan of up to 30 cm (but we'll talk about that later). They are mostly nocturnal, and easily attracted to light, although some are diurnal. Adults cannot eat because their mouthparts don't function. In some places, their caterpillars (like the mopane worm) are eaten.

Check out this interesting diagram of Saturniidae moth sizes in Indiana. It should give a general idea of how big most Saturniidae are.

Some iconic saturniids include:

The Io moth (Automeris io)

These guys are sexually dimorphic, the male is the yellow one the female is the brown one above it. They have unusually large eyespots even for saturniids. They are distributed across Canada, the US and Mexico.

The Luna moth (Actias luna)

Pictured here is a male luna moth, luna moths are sexually dimorphic and the females look similar although more triangular in shape. Fun fact: the 'tails' on their wings are there to help reduce predation as bats will chomp on them instead of, for example, a main part of their wing which may prevent them from flying and/or enable the bat to have better grip on them and just eat them. Distributed across the US and Canada.

The Atlas moth (Attacus atlas)

As you can see, these guys are pretty big. Their wingspan can be up to 30 cm wide. Fun fact: their cocoons are so strong they are sometimes used as purses. Distributed across China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Hercules moth (Coscinocera hercules)

VERY VERY BIG. The females have the biggest wing surface area (300 square cm) of all extant insects. They have a rather large wingspan as well, around 27 cm. The caterpillars can sometimes take more than a year to metamorphose. Native to Northern Australia and New Guinea.

Sources:

Saturniid moth

Family saturniidae

Cool study on moth diversity in Mexico

Io moth

Luna moth

Largest moth

Spotlight: the atlas moth

Hercules moth

Moths with larger hindwings and longer tails are best at deflecting bats (very interesting read)

Image creds:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Trying to keep your footprint as low as possible is a great way to self-destruct.

And I'm not saying this to people who take two hour showers during international flights while shoving red meat into their mouth. I'm saying this to my fellow activists who feel conflicted about heating their home on fossil fuels even though they don't have any other options (and struggle to afford it).

Like, we can talk about how 'consumer choice' is never going to save the planet and stuff, but more importantly: You are not a sin. Your basic needs deserve to be met. You deserve to be warm and filled with food that satisfies you and you deserve to see your friends.

We are not fighting to save 'the planet', that's a piece of rock. We want to save ecosystems and plants and animals, including people. You are part of that. Don't leave yourself out of the list of creatures that deserve to thrive.