Polyphemus Moth
This 8 cm moth clung to the wall of a
Burnaby apartment building for almost a week last summer. I think it may have been laying eggs in crevices in the stucco. It holds its wings like a butterfly, even though it has feathery, moth-like antennae. I have just discovered that it is a Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea Polyphemus), one of the family of Giant Silkworm Moths - see pages 228-229 of "Insects of the Pacific Northwest" by Peter Haggard & Judy Haggard.
I took these photos with my Pentax SF10, a Tamron 90 mm Macro lens and ISO400 film (ISO 100 would have been better, but I had ISO 400 in the camera.) These shots are natural light at f2.8. I also took some at f32 with the ring flash, but I prefer the background blurred out to focus on the moth.
Click on the pictures to see full size.
Burnaby apartment building for almost a week last summer. I think it may have been laying eggs in crevices in the stucco. It holds its wings like a butterfly, even though it has feathery, moth-like antennae. I have just discovered that it is a Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea Polyphemus), one of the family of Giant Silkworm Moths - see pages 228-229 of "Insects of the Pacific Northwest" by Peter Haggard & Judy Haggard.
I took these photos with my Pentax SF10, a Tamron 90 mm Macro lens and ISO400 film (ISO 100 would have been better, but I had ISO 400 in the camera.) These shots are natural light at f2.8. I also took some at f32 with the ring flash, but I prefer the background blurred out to focus on the moth.
Click on the pictures to see full size.
posted by Ken Erickson at 7:42 AM
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