Fuzzy Silk Moth

fuzzy silk moth

May I introduce you to these amazing textile sculptures by Yumi Okita:

The effort!! The texture!!! Super cool :)

Her etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/irohandbags/sold?ref=shopinfo_sales_leftnav

PSA: don't pick up random spiky or hairy caterpillars

A lot of them have urticating hairs, which really itch when embedded in the skin and can cause further damage upon ingestion or contact with mucous membranes. Sometimes caterpillars' hairs or spikes are filled with venom which is released into your skin on contact and can hurt like hell and even cause respiratory problems, in the case of southern flannel moth caterpillars (Megalopyge opercularis), picture of one below for reference:

And, in the case of Lonomia obliqua caterpillars, these hairs can even cause internal bleeding and death (with a horrifying death rate of 2,5%). Picture below:

I know, they're cute. But it's not worth it.

Image sources: [1] [2]

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]

Jeannette Klute. Luna Moth, 1952-1954. Dye imbibition print.

Watch Out!! Friends about!! 🚘🦝‼️