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Gary Hebert | all galleries >> Nature and The Outdoors >> Wonders of Nature >> Butterflies & Moths >> Attacus Atlas Moth > Mating Atlas Moth's (close-up)
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15-JUL-2006 © 2006 Gary Hebert

Mating Atlas Moth's (close-up)

Butterfly Gardens, Calgary Zoo

Mating Atlas Moth's (Attacus atlas)
South East Asia

The female is spread with wings open and the male is attached on bottom and behind her right wing.

The Atlas Moth has the largest wing surface area of all moths. It is so named because its wing patterns resemble maps. The wing tips are hooked and some say resemble a snake's head complete with eye, to scare off predators.

Female Atlas Moths attract males by secreting a pheromone through a gland at the end of the abdomen. The male has huge long feathery antennae to track down the female by her pheromones. The females are much larger than the males and don't have feathery antennae. Male atlas moths can detect odor-carrying molecules called pheromones released by females at a distance of many kilometers away.

Adult Atlas Moths don't eat at all throughout their adult life which lasts for about two weeks. An adult Atlas Moth doesn't even have a mouth and lives off fat reserves built up when it was a caterpillar. The adults quickly mate, lay eggs, and die shortly thereafter.

Here is another version

Olympus E-500 ,Olympus Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital ED
1/160s f/22.0 at 200.0mm iso160 with FL-36 Flash hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time15-Jul-2006 09:28:46
MakeOlympus
ModelE-500
Flash UsedYes
Focal Length200 mm
Exposure Time1/160 sec
Aperturef/22
ISO Equivalent160
Exposure Bias
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programaperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
comment | share
Donna Hollinger09-Aug-2006 14:11
Stunning...colors and detail! i like your story too. Do you know if these guys live in North America (other than the butterfly house)?
Tom Munson16-Jul-2006 20:31
Outstanding image Gary. Love all the colors. GMV
Katie Chew16-Jul-2006 18:11
Beautiful close-up!
Gordon W16-Jul-2006 18:06
Such beautiful butterflies and well captured.
Yi Feng16-Jul-2006 17:32
Great detail. Excellent capture!
Beverly Wickersham16-Jul-2006 16:37
Beautiful vivid color and nice detail.
QUERIDO16-Jul-2006 16:05
nice shot!