Macro moth photos
No, that’s not the shoulder of a wooly yak… that’s a Bombyx silk moth. They’re just really hairy close to.
They do kind of remind me of bulls, when they pose “horns” lowered like this.
Here, he needs to comb his antennae. I tried to catch a little movie of him combing – but he was done too quickly. It’s a very comical little motion – almost like waggling the eyebrows.
Don’t they look like hairy beasts?
You can see really clearly here, that there’s no mouth. None. Goes right from eyes to shoulders, no chin.
Can they eat? How long do they live?
Wow, cool.
OMG those are awesome shots! The one where he needs to comb his antennae is just begging to be an icon. =D
They can’t eat. None of the moths in that whole superfamily can. They store up fat and moisture as larvae, and live off it as adults. They usually live four or five days, sometimes a little longer. It depends a lot on moisture and temperature.
Heheheh – totally a ‘Bad Hair Day – do not mess with me!’ look
LOL…. how funny! “I’m not quite ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille…”
How tragic for such beauty.
When there isn’t anything to indicate scale – they look like you could spin the hair.
Heheh – now the image of a mothhair/silk combo is in my head!
LOL. Yeah… but this stuff, when you DON’T have a macro lens focused on it, looks like fuzz on the moth… but looks like dust once it’s rubbed off. Not as fine as the wing scales, but still just dust.
I think of them kind of like the flowers on a plant – very limited life span, existing only to breed. And they’re VERY keen breeders… almost frantic about it.
ohh i love him!
at first glance, the first photo made me think of the back of a goat’s head with floppy ears on the side!
Oh, he is beautiful! But then, I am unduly fond of hairy beasts of all sizes.
Very cute looking, he reminds me of a Japanese anime character. How cool is that, he hangs out right on your finger!
Yeah – the domesticated ones are extremely docile. So are the wild ones, during the day – but they are a little more touchy about how they’re handled.
Fantastic pictures. They are magnificent! I love the antenna!
I just wish I had a tiny, tiny comb. Or maybe a #00 paintbrush. He’s so mussed!
I’d never thought I’d say this about an insect but it’s almost cute!
Those are SO cool… I really wish I knew enough folks around here with mulberry… it really would NOT do to go down and raid Como Park every day *snicker* – though the thought has crossed my mind!
I had one in my yard–best tree ever–I actually loved that tree–until several years ago when it fell during a windstorm.
I never though I’d say something like this about a moth, but it’s adorable. Beautiful photos!
Re: Macro moth photos
awesome pictures.
i didn’t know they don’t eat and have no mouths — he looks like he has a ZZ top beard :). huh. learn something new every day!
We had a mulberry growing into the fence in the backyard where I used to live… we couldn’t kill the damn thing.. I cut it all the way down to the ground and it kept sending up suckers and entangling the fence again…
Having a girl moment here; please forgive:
Eeee! It’s SO CUTE! Lookit those little eyes and feet! Eeee!
*cough* I feel better. Thank you. (Those antennae are darling. Amazing what a macro lens can bring into focus.)
Beautiful, but bizarre
Michael, these little things are really quite beautiful, aren’t they!? How does their hair feel? Is it soft? or more like a bristle brush? similar to dog hair? or human hair? Do they fly? (sorry if that’s a stupid question.) Mary
Re: Beautiful, but bizarre
They feel quite soft, although they’re so tiny, they’re not easy to “pet”
Awesome pics
How awesome. I love the pic where he needs to comb his antennae. I’m amazed they don’t feed, I just assumed they have feeding tubes like a butterfly, is that called a proboscis.
Re: Awesome pics
Yes – the feeding tube (which he doesn’t have) is called a proboscis.
what are those horned-combed antennae for?
They use them to detect the pheremones released by the females – the males can “smell” the pheromone up to miles away in some cases.