Found this little guy in my garden..

[lily.]

http://i62.tinypic.com/10zbu4z.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/2v9xf7t.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/10cno6f.jpg

I've since discovered it is an emperor moth and it has taken up residence on the underside of the railings at my back steps.. and has laid eggs.. so it's not a little guy at all.. it's a little gal..

[Vanessa]

Wow! Stunning! :love:

[Ramsay]

KILL IT

[Vanessa]

KILL IT

:nono:

[lily.]

I've never seen one as large before. I looked it up and found out the emperor female is larger than the male.. and has a wingspan up to 8cm.. which is about right for this one..

I'm not sure how long the eggs will be there..

[Benjamin]

KILL IT

:fist:

[Ramsay]

BREAK ITS LEGS

[AnnieK]

I can't believe it let you handle it....pretty amazing :love:

[Jordan.]

:umm2::umm2::umm2:

[Vanessa]

They're not dangerous. Nothing to be scared about. :hugesmile:

[Me. I Am Salman]

revolting

[Me. I Am Salman]

http://us.123rf.com/450wm/marcparsons/marcparsons1301/marcparsons130100014/17081156-extreme-close-up-of-an-emperor-moth.jpg

[Jessica.]

:umm2:






http://splatter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/replygif3.gif

[lily.]

Karl, I can't believe how much of a pussy you are lol

Ammi.. it just walked onto my hand.. didn't want to leave lol.. I had to coerce it into walking onto the planter on top of my rabbit hutch..

[Vanessa]

Moths are beautiful.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02574/emperorMoth_2574941b.jpg

[King Gizzard]

Still a moth

[Vanessa]

Karl, I can't believe how much of a pussy you are lol

Ammi.. it just walked onto my hand.. didn't want to leave lol.. I had to coerce it into walking onto the planter on top of my rabbit hutch..

The moth likes you! :D

[lily.]

Moths are beautiful.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02574/emperorMoth_2574941b.jpg



I agree Vanessa.

[lily.]

http://i62.tinypic.com/2ihqn48.jpg

You can kinda see the eggs... it's hard to take the pic.. my railings are rusty and she's on the underside..

[GypsyGoth]

Wow she's stunning :love:

[lily.]

She's huge.. I'm quite fascinated with her. I read somewhere that she'll die once she's laid all her eggs though.. which makes me sad.

[Vanessa]

She's huge.. I'm quite fascinated with her. I read somewhere that she'll die once she's laid all her eggs though.. which makes me sad.

:(

[mizzy25]

why did I look @ this? Im sweating now I have a phobia of moths and butterlies arghhhh

[mizzy25]

why did I look @ this? Im sweating now I have a phobia of moths and butterflies arghhhh

[Vanessa]

why did I look @ this? Im sweating now I have a phobia of moths and butterlies arghhhh

They can't hurt, mizzy. They just look big. :hugesmile:

[Vicky.]

They look so pretty on photos

But I am scared of them IRL...when theres just a big black fuzzy thing flying at your head over and over, they arent so pretty D:

[Vanessa]

They look so pretty on photos

But I am scared of them IRL...when theres just a big black fuzzy thing flying at your head over and over, they arent so pretty D:

But they can't harm you. :hugesmile:

[Vicky.]

But they can't harm you. :hugesmile:

Neither can most spiders, doesnt stop a lot of people crapping themselves when they see one of the little things :laugh:

[Kate!]

She's beautiful. Amazing creature. :love:

[Vanessa]

Neither can most spiders, doesnt stop a lot of people crapping themselves when they see one of the little things :laugh:

True! :joker:

[lily.]

My daughter has a phobia of moths and butterflies also..

[Kizzy]

lOVELY! :)

[Kazanne]

http://i62.tinypic.com/10zbu4z.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/2v9xf7t.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/10cno6f.jpg

I've since discovered it is an emperor moth and it has taken up residence on the underside of the railings at my back steps.. and has laid eggs.. so it's not a little guy at all.. it's a little gal..

WOW ,that is beautiful :lovedup:

[JTM45]

That's beautiful!!!!
Are you/is it in the UK ?

I saw one of those Hummingbird Hawk-moth's last year in my garden and it blew my mind. I'd never heard of them before i saw it so i was like "what the hell is that ?" to my mother and she didn't know either. We were convinced it was a Hummingbird at first, which was strange considering i live in Wales, but i went out and had a look at it up close (it was flying constantly from plant to plant and just hovering to feed from the flowers) and when i was up close you could barely see that what looked like a beak was actually a proboscis and it was retracting it super quick now and again. It even sounded like a hummingbird!
Definitely the most unusual moth i've ever seen.

[Ammi]

...she is beautiful Lily...I'm sure that I read somewhere that although they are rare, you're more likely to find an Emperor Moth in Scotland...I would feel kind of special if I had one in my garden...

[lily.]

That's beautiful!!!!
Are you/is it in the UK ?

I'm in Scotland..

Update: She's still here... she moved off her eggs, and was sitting on the steps when I got home today. I let her walk onto my hand again, and took some pics.. then put her into one of my plant pots.. I wonder where she'll be tomorrow.

http://i61.tinypic.com/nntsaw.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/dcfzmw.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/2ldwoj4.jpg

Tried to take a face-on pic.. but she is camera shy haha

http://i57.tinypic.com/b5fmm8.jpg

[AnnieK]

Aw...and bless your cat too just sat there getting in on the pic - my cats spend hours trying to catch and eat moths and butterflies...

[Crimson Dynamo]

let that go in the average office and watch the panic and mayhem ensue

[Tom4784]

No.

[lily.]

I think she's dying. :(

[Ammi]

..:sad:..she's laid her eggs and fulfilled her purpose now...t'is the circle of life...

[lily.]

Awww... it's like Charlotte's Web.

[Ammi]

..yeah you became part of a beautiful fairy tale Lily....and been her moth-er for the last moments of her life...beautiful....<3...

[lily.]

Awww... I kinda want to bring her inside now lol

[AnnieK]

Aw...bring her in :sad:

[lily.]

I have a wooden planter on top of my rabbit hutch.. it's got flowers in it and there's this mossy covering on it... At the moment, she's sitting right in the middle of it.. under the flowers.. on top of the moss... I must say it does look comfy and sheltered.. I'm worried she's not actually dying and if I bring her in, she will die.. I'm really soft when it comes to creatures.. :/


edit: I found some info..

The adult emperor moths are only on the wing for a couple of months at the most, and during this time they do not feed. They appear in April and are day-flying, the males flying about rapidly in their search for females. Females rest during daytime and an un-mated female can attract a large number of males if she is found resting.

Having mated, the females fly off in the early part of the night to lay their eggs in batches on a number of different species of plants.

This explains why she seems so sleepy ... she's basically gonna sit and wait around for the menfolks to come do their thing.. lol

[Ammi]

I have a wooden planter on top of my rabbit hutch.. it's got flowers in it and there's this mossy covering on it... At the moment, she's sitting right in the middle of it.. under the flowers.. on top of the moss... I must say it does look comfy and sheltered.. I'm worried it's not actually dying and if I bring it in, it will die.. I'm really soft when it comes to creatures.. :/

...aww, you might not save her because it's just nature but she may live a little longer out there and I think she'll be much better and prefer it to indoors..but I do know what you mean/it's sad but it just is what it is/nature and that's why we love it so much...

[LaLaLand]

You're so lucky, I love moths. They're stunning creatures.

[lily.]

Same. I love all creatures but moths/butterflies are so pretty and delicate.

[LemonJam]

holy **** that's beautiful :lovedup:

[lily.]

Day 3: She's still in the plant pot..

http://i61.tinypic.com/1zwdx1c.jpg

http://i57.tinypic.com/ohpkeg.jpg

[lily.]

Update: She's still there today.. I guess she's officially moved in to the plant pot..

[Kyle]

Wow I'm well jealous. The only insects that seem to want to come close to me in my garden are friggin wasps.

Keep the pics coming please!

[T*]

Lovely! Once a giant butterfly escaped from a zoo and flew over me, so big and so beautiful!

[lily.]

Wow I'm well jealous. The only insects that seem to want to come close to me in my garden are friggin wasps.

Keep the pics coming please!


I was going to give up on this thread cos I thought nobody cared about this moth except me haha..

[Sophiee]

:amazed: that's so cool, I'm scared of them but they do look beautiful close-up.

[lily.]

I just brought her in and took vids on my phone.

[Crimson Dynamo]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8c4_1306857615

A very good moth joke

[Kyle]

I was going to give up on this thread cos I thought nobody cared about this moth except me haha..

No by all means keep it going. I've only just seen it today and I'll be checking in again it's really good.

[lily.]

I'll put the vids up in a minute.. she's currently taken up residence on my arm..

http://i62.tinypic.com/314tk3l.jpg

[Kyle]

Wow she seems so docile around you. What's she like on your arm does she scurry about or just sit there?

[lily.]

She scurries around when she's not on my skin, but she stops when she is.. I don't know if it's the heat or what..

Video 1 (http://tinypic.com/m/i6fqci/4)

Video 2 (http://tinypic.com/m/i6fqfd/4)

http://i59.tinypic.com/30t6s6x.jpg

[lily.]

Sadly, she is no longer with us.. I checked the plant pot when I got home today and she has died.. :(

[AnnieK]

Aw....Lily, that's awful. Shes done what she was meant to....:sad:

[Vanessa]

:sad:

[Ninastar]

I think we need Livia to say a few words...

[Kyle]

Sadly, she is no longer with us.. I checked the plant pot when I got home today and she has died.. :(

Aw ******* sake :(

[Jordan.]

RIP Moth http://i.imgur.com/QWY2By2.gif

[Crimson Dynamo]

rip

[Livia]

I think we need Livia to say a few words...


Having carried out her great dead, she has returned to the universe x

Ha'makom yenahem etkhem betokh she'ar avelei Tziyonvi'Yerushalayim.

[Kazanne]

Aw,that's sad she was beautiful Lily.

[lily.]

<3

[Ninastar]

Having carried out her great dead, she has returned to the universe x

Ha'makom yenahem etkhem betokh she'ar avelei Tziyonvi'Yerushalayim.

http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA4LzEyL2YzL2Zpc3RwdW1wLmZlZWJmLmdpZgpwCX RodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/80d8c90f/452/fist-pump.gif

[SuddyMaddy]

wow :O
Usually i dont like insects lol, but this one is kinda cute :D:D

[lily.]

Yeah, she was. Moths are lovely close up though. They have really intricate markings. :)