Imperial Moth

by AnnaJo Vahle

Buy the Original Photograph

Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

7.000 x 5.000 inches

Title

Imperial Moth

Artist

AnnaJo Vahle

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Exiting a store in Melbourne, Florida, we noticed this huge moth sitting still on the post of the building. It's wingspan was at least 6 inches. I knelt down to his level a couple feet off the ground and put my I-Phone right up to it just a couple inches from it. It didn't move. It looked like a dead leaf.
According to the University of Florida...
The imperial moth is one of our largest and most beautiful moths. It is also the most variable in appearance and the most widely distributed of our large eastern U.S. saturniid moths.
Adults remain motionless much of the time and mimic the dead yellow leaves that are common in forests about the time the moths are emerging. A number of plant species have leaves that are similar in shape to an imperial moth in its typical resting position. Many of the leaves even have purple or brown patterns that enhance the mimicry of the moths.
The imperial moth has a wingspan of 3-7 in. Females are larger than males, and males tend to be more heavily marked than females - especially in the South. Moths from more northern areas tend to have fewer dark markings, but both light and dark forms are found in both northern and southern areas.

Uploaded

August 18th, 2022

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags