029. Around the World in 14 days

Collecting dust, that’s what this blog’s been doing. What can I say, I took more than I could handle this semester and now my plate’s overflowing. Spilling even. Compared to having read through 13 pages of some bloke et al. going on about epigenetics, rDNA, episome etc (yawns), blogging about my adventure yesterday with Miss Woo might perk me up a bit.

Now then, here’s a little something. Can you guess what this lovely creature (bottom) might be? With its feathery antennae and fur-like covering, it looks somewhat like a rabbit. It’s a matter of imagination of course.

Weather’s been cold and damp these past few days. Add in a dash of thunder and gusts of cold breeze, and you have a perfect day to snuggle warm against your blankets. After the rain stopped pouring somewhat, Hen and I walked around campus in search for Dillenia sp. patches. They are going to be spots where she will spend at least 2 hours of her time (per observation) to note down the birds that make the red Dillenia fruits part of their diet. As we were just about to call it a day (and head down to Business Fac’s dessert stall), the above creature caught my eye.

What caught my breath weren’t its colours but its sheer size as it held still against a large Dillenia suffruticosa leaf. And yeap, as some of you might have guessed already, it’s the giant Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas). Measuring against my notebook, its wingspan was at least 25cm while its vertical length (from head to wing tip at the bottom) was approximately 15cm. Named after the Titan in Greek mythology, its wings’ patterns are said to look like maps. Again, it’s all up to eyes’ of the beholder.

This, I assumed, is a male as males are said to have bushier antennae to seek out the pheromones released by their female counterparts. Hence, any of the chemicals that carried downwind can be easily detected by his large, feathery antennae. But in comparison, females are noted to be even larger in size. However, neither sex possessed fully-formed mouth parts and hence do not feed. The 10-14 days they have on Earth is spent mating and reproducing. And throughout this period, they survive on nothing more but their larval fat reserves which they had accumulated while they were in their caterpillar stage.

And this leads me to a question, what ecological role do these moths have on the stage which Mother Nature runs as director? And by role, I am not referring to the silk which they are known to be cultivated for. Compared to the Silkworm moth (Bombyx mori), the silk of the Atlas moth is secreted as broken strands. Known also as fagara, its brown, wool-like silk is thought to be longer-lasting.  Anyway, they can’t be doing nothing but mating and spawning… right? I couldn’t come up with anything substantial via Google though…

Generally, Atlas moths are tawny to maroon in colour with roughly triangular, see-through "eyes" on both forewing and hindwing that’s bordered in black (bottom picture, right). Their reason of existence is still rather vague, but they are thought to be important in avoiding predators (small mammals and birds). The bodies of these moths are rather hairy and disproportionately small compared to their wings.

 

The moth in its full glory…

..but I wonder, why the need for these red streaks at the side of its wings? Is it suppose to bear resemblance to a mouth? (since it’s noted that the hooked wingtips are said to look somewhat like a snake's head (complete with eye), to scare off predators)

 

And here’s a look on what’s at the front.. caught this as the moth started to beat its wings softly… (but looking from behind, the hooked wingtips look somewhat like a parrot’s head). =) Common as it might be (especially from November to January), it can’t be denied that this creature is truly a majestic beauty. 

Okie, okie… back to hitting the books.. looks like it’s gonna be a long night. >_>

Reference:
1. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Attacus_atlas#encyclopedia