While travelling to York, PA yesterday to visit my wife’s family, I spotted a large moth under a pine tree. Daedalus was sniffing around the tree and this bright orange thing caught my eye. It was very lethargic, so I imagine it was either sleepy (since moths tend to be nocturnal) or about to die. My guess is the latter. I was able to snap a few shots and one actually turned out. Autofocus kept slipping off of it. Were the patterns in the wings maybe confusing it?
This particular specimen wasn’t as large as these Giant Silkworm moths (aka Cecropia moth or Robin moth) can get, which is about a six inch wingspan. But it was big. What a beautiful creature. I love the fern-like antennae and the speckled wings.
Cecropia moth (giant silkworm moth, robin moth) with black and white speckled wings and fern-like antennae found under a pine tree in central Pennsylvania
