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Project Noah Nature School
Creatonotos wilemani
Please could someone tell me - what on earth was happening to this moth??? I saw something almost the moth's length dangling from the back of it. By the time I'd come back with my camera, the 'dangling bit' had almost completely disappeared into the moth (see 1st & 2nd shots). The 3rd shot was a matter of seconds later. The 4th was taken about a minute later. Length of moth approx. 3 cm (1.2 inches).
Hills overlooking Manila.
Previous spotting of this species: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/711...
Spotted on Dec 5, 2011
Submitted on Dec 6, 2011
5 Comments
Species updated
Thanks so much for this info Martin! Whew, what a relief! I thought something terrible was happening to him. There are a lot of these Creatonotos transiens moths around at the moment, so it would make sense that I inadvertently interrupted a (pre-)intimate moment...
This is a feature of male monarchs and related danaus species
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkadavoor/5...
Some moths and butterflies have these brush organs that are used to disperse phermones into the air for creating an amorous response in their partners. Your moth decided to retract the brushes during your next observation.
Is this poor moth being 'invaded' by some other creature??! :-(