Thursday, August 16, 2012

Mighty Monster Moth!!


What do you picture when you think of moths?


The ones that eat your favorite wool sweaters?


Moths around an electric light blub (image: Dr John Brackenbury / Science Photo Library)
The ones that love to fly around your porch light?



But, surely not THIS!! 
This huge, ginormous Monster Moth ....



I happened to look out a window and saw this giant moth on the screen door of my greenhouse (OK so there is nothing "green" in my greenhouse -- but there is a lot of plastic! In the form of plastic bins holding craft stuff, Christmas stuff, ceramic bisque stuff, wood stuff .... some of them do have green lids though.)

But I digress .....

This giant 3 inch long moth was hanging on the screen part of the glass door. Three inches! I kid you not! 

I grabbed my camera and rushed out -- he (she?) was still there. I snapped a few shots, then wondered if I could get a belly shot. 



I eased open the door, fully expecting him to fly away .... but he stayed! I even eased the glass part of the door down so that I could get more light, and he stayed! That moth wasn't going anywhere! He could have been more accommodating and spread his wings or something, but that was not to be.




He stayed there all day -- I'd go back and look out the window and he'd still be there! Gone the next morning though -- guess he had to go find something to eat! What do moths eat anyway? Besides wool sweaters that is!!


♥♥♥  Linking my Mega Moth to Alphabe-Thursday over at Miss Jenny's where we are studying the letter "M." 

Jenny Matlock

♥♥

23 comments:

Silly Little Sheep said...

Not all moths eat wool , haha :D Some dont eat anything at all - just like butterflies, they eat a LOT when they are a caterpillar and then starve during their short period of adulthood. Where I live (central Europe), 4 inch moths are quite normal... And usually during the day they do not want to go anywhere, they often resemble bark of the trees (just like this one), choose a spot and stay there unnoticed until nightfall.

Nauli said...

Moths scare me! We have around 1 ton of wool in the house! Having it eaten up by moth would ruine us. And imagine all those already knitted and crochetted mohair, merino and cashmere hats and scarf... No, I really don't like the idea...

Silly Little Sheep said...

My boyfriend rebuilds pianos and uses felt as well - he is scared of moths too! :) Those are evil little moths! This one looks fluffy and cute!

Cathy Kennedy said...

Moths don't scare me, but I HATE when they get inside especially the small ones which are difficult to see. Interesting post!

carol l mckenna said...

Perfect photo for ABC ~ great photography ~ I have similar photo ~ with moth on screen that I haven't posted anywhere ~ (A Creative Harbor)

Judy Nolan said...

Great photos! Isn't it funny that we use the expression "moth-eaten" to describe something old and worn, but also well-loved?

Kaili Williams said...

Aww, I love moths! What a beautiful one :)

storybeader said...

huh! I didn't know moths and butterflies didn't eat! I haven't seen one that big, but the insects do look a bit larger than usual... {:-D

Unknown said...

he's a pretty little boy. I plan my flower garden for butterflies and hummingbirds. And with the butterflies we have moths. Some of them are almost as pretty as butterflies.
Debbi
-yankeeburrowcreations

Esther Joy said...

He (or she?) definitely was a big one!

Silly Little Sheep said...

Hi again - I didnt mean ALL of them!! Some obviously do! But some species only eat as larvae, then change into adult, have quick sex, lay eggs and die.I dont know which ones eat and which dont - but those that go around the flowers in the garden and suck something from them, they obviously are eating :)
(And you see, I should know this, my final zoology exam is in a month!)

Erika said...

My kids do not like moths so would not want to see this guy--he kind of looks hairy in one of those photos.

Memories for Life said...

We used to get these at work! Since I worked nights, they'd sneak in while we were working! Quite a sight to come across!

Linda E. Pruitt said...

We had big ones that came out in the summer at our summer house. I don't know if they were 3 inches tho!

Rose Clearfield said...

Wow, that is super gross!

anitamombanita said...

cool shots...but i still hate moths.

BeadedTail said...

We didn't know it was really true that moths eat sweaters but we do know it's true that kitties eat moths! We've never had one that big though! Too bad Oliver didn't either. :(

Purrs,
Angel & Isabella

Silly Little Sheep said...

I really don't get why someone would think of moths as gross or why someone would be scared of them... They do not hurt you, the ones that eat sweaters are TINY and the ones that live outdoors come in by accident and usually die there...

Did you look it up and find out what species it is yet? Then you will know exactly what it eats and where it lives etc. And if you have kids, I suggest you show them and tell them too, I bet they'd be very interested :)

Splendid Little Stars said...

Oh but wool sweaters are the tastiest!
great captures!

Anonymous said...

Oh my...3 inches??? I've never seen one that long either!

ImagesByCW | OceanDreamIllustration said...

Eeek! What a giant moth! Imagine what a hole this one would have eaten into your sweater in now time - lol

Jenny said...

Oh.

Man.

I'm not a fan of moths.

I don't know why. They can't actually hurt you.

But I always run screaming from them in a non-dainty fashion.

And I'm feeling just a bit creeped out from this picture!

Great capture.

Thank you for sharing it.

A+

Catherine said...

This is an amazingly cool moth!

In addition to being a fan of superheroes, I used to love cheesy Sci-Fi movies when I was young. (a zillion years ago) There was one, "Mothra" - Oh! I laugh just to think about it now. The effects were horrible! You could probably find some clips of Mothra vs Godzilla on YouTube if you ever need a laugh.

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