Atlas moth

The atlas moth is one of the biggest moths in the world. From wingtip to wingtip its wings can stretch about as wide as a dinner plate. They are patterned in warm browns, orange, and pink, with a clear little window on each wing. The tips of the wings even look a bit like a snake’s head, which can surprise a hungry animal.

Before it becomes a moth, the atlas moth is a plump, hungry caterpillar. It munches on leaves and grows bigger and bigger. When it is ready, it spins a case of silk around itself and rests inside while it changes into a moth.

Here is a surprising thing: a grown-up atlas moth never eats. Its mouth is not made for feeding, so it lives on all the food it saved up as a caterpillar. Because of this, the adult moth only lives for a few days, and its main job is to find a partner.

Atlas moths rest quietly during the day and fly at night, though they are gentle, wobbly fliers. A female sends out a special scent, and a male can smell it from a long way off using his big, feathery antennae, which help him find her in the dark.

These moths live in the warm forests of southern and south-eastern Asia, in places like India, Indonesia, and parts of China. In some parts of India, people gather the strong brown silk from their cocoons. Because they have not been studied across their whole range, scientists have not yet given them a conservation rating.