Yesterday, while leaving another adventure destination, my Mom (who is visiting from Texas for two weeks!) and I made a spontaneous stop at the Butterfly Pavilion. You might remember reading about my special birthday trip and how much I loved seeing all of the butterflies. Well, yesterday wasn't any less thrilling than my first visit there, except that we got to see a very special moth.
We were lucky enough to see one that had just emerged from its chrysalis and was allowing its wings to dry. The chrysalis room has hundreds of unhatched and newly hatched chrysalides hanging behind glass. It is amazing to see that each variety of beautiful butterfly has a unique and interesting chrysalis.
While we were out in the big pavilion room watching the hundreds of butterflies and enjoying all the beautiful plants and flowers, a woman asked one of the volunteers if there were any of the large moths in the pavilion. She said "yes, there are." I was standing by her and I couldn't help asking, "There are?!! Are they up high or down low near the ground?" She said they could be anywhere but, generally during the day, they are usually hiding. As she walked away she said she would look to see if she could find one. A few minutes later, she came back and said "you were the one wanting to see the Atlas Moth aren't you?" "YES!", I quietly shouted. She told us to follow her because one of the docents had found one. As we rounded the corner, here was the docent walking towards us with a net. With the moth on the edge! So, as it was our not-so-lucky day at our first adventure, the casino, it was our very lucky day at the Butterfly Pavilion!
Please look very closely at the white triangular shapes on her wings. They are clear! This is so they can land on trees and the pattern of the bark shows through to help camouflage the moth. Also notice the antennae, which look like tiny feathers. This particular moth was a female and I thought it very sweet that the docent, who clearly loves his job, refereed to her as "she" the whole time he was proudly talking about her. He told us the males have longer antennae and hairier legs than the female. Also, he said they have a very short lifespan of less than one week. But, that they once had one live for ten days at the pavilion without bad weather conditions and harmful prey. Also, they don't eat or drink during their life, as the stored nutrients they have at "birth" is all they need.
Although I'm not a fan of the tarantula, (you remember this don't you?) this moth didn't bother me in the least. I thought it was rather spectacular!
Sadly, as we weren't planning this butterfly visit, I did not have my camera with me. It would have resulted in clearer, more detailed photos but, thankfully, with a camera phone always handy, I at least got some pictures.
Just look at the size of this moth! The wikipedia article that I linked you to above says it has the largest wing circumference of any other moth. The docent was pointing out to us that the markings along the bottom edge look like mountain landscapes or hieroglyphic paintings.
He also showed us (if you had not noticed yet) that the wing tips look like snake heads. Amazing!
The nature of so many things in our world is really just so remarkable, don't you think?
As the pavilion was closing, it was time to leave. He set the net along the wall by the exit door. I thought this to be a very interesting collection of things to photograph.
I took one last picture of this completely remarkable moth before leaving. Notice all the different details, some I have pointed out, but others you will see while staring at it.
This was most certainly the highlight of our day yesterday.
Oh, that and the fact that Mom's pink floral shirt was an attraction to the butterflies!
Had you ever heard of the Atlas Moth before?
If not, now you have!
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