This absolute monster (about 16cm from wing-tip to wing-tip) turned up in the garden actinic trap at Westcott last night.
A quick internet search suggests that it might well be Antheraea yamamai from Japan, although Mr Google isn't all that good at telling you how many look-a-likes there might be. Has anyone lost a silk moth locally?!
Here's another picture, colouring slightly more accurate, taken just before it did a runner!
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
Crikey! That must have been a big surprise.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was! When I closed up the trap just before dawn I could see there was something huge in there and was really hoping for something "countable" like a Giant Peacock Moth, but it wasn't to be. However, I've since been told that there are small populations of escapees in the wild in southern Europe so I'll cling on to the miniscule chance that it really was a migrant!
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