Specimen Showcase | The Atlas Titan of Moths
- Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum
- Mar 10
- 1 min read
Among our specimens, you can find #the_largest_moth in the world, which can also be found in the countryside of Hong Kong, among several countries within SE Asia! It is the famous #Atlas_Moth (𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘴 Linnaeus, 1758).
With a maximum recorded wingspan of 30cm, their impressive size has earned them the name of "Atlas", the titan that lifted the sky in Greek mythology. The apical extension on its forewings has spectacular patterns that mimic #snake_heads , which can deter predators, such as birds or lizards, and protect itself.
Atlas Moth belongs to the Saturniidae family. The adult moths of this family do not eat because they have #no_mouthparts. They only rely on the fat stored during the larval stage caterpillar) to support their short mating period of just 1-2 weeks.
When a female Atlas Moth is ready to mate, it releases pheromone as a mating signal . To detect that signal, the #bipectinate_antennae of the males are denser than those of the females. This is contrary to their sexual size dimorphism as the body sizes of females are larger than males.
