Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis)

[cmpalmer]

My son took our dog out back night before last and yelled from the back deck that there was the biggest moth he had ever seen out there. I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures of it. It was still out there the next morning, laying eggs (supposedly they are non-destructive, so maybe I can track a few as caterpillars and get some shots of them as well).

I looked it up online and found it was an Imperial Moth. It is a really cool little beast and I was fairly happy with the detail of the hairs. Not so happy with the color, but this was a Coolpix on a dark back deck with a yellow "bug light" illumination. The flash shots were too blue and the non flash shots were too yellow (and noisy). I'm still playing with the colors, but I wanted to share what I had so far...

This one shows the size -- these are 6" deck planks, so it is in the upper end of the species size (said to be 4-5.5" in wingspan). It also shows the color fairly accurately -- bright yellow with lilac details and legs:

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This one was without a flash, so the color is a bit off (and noisy), but it shows the beautifully thick shaggy hair on the back:

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Here is the leg detail:

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The other few shots and the full size versions are here: http://cmpalmer.smugmug.com/gallery/661054

 

[Leigh]

Cool capture...that thing is enormous! I'd have run the other direction...

 

[FlyingFlowers]

Wow that is beautiful. The second photo looks like one of those fur rugs.

 

[Flew]

Excellent shots Chris. I like the fuzzy one too. 8)

Are you coming to the Cafe get together this weekend? We should get a ton of great shooting opportunities at the botanical gardens.

 

[CrystallP]

Chris,

Yikes! I agree with Leigh, I don't think I could have handled seeing a moth that large. It reminds me of an old sci fi movie, 'Mothra'. Excellent capture though. I especially like the second image. The detail is great!