What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Subject: Giant Wood Moth
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
September 14, 2012 7:26 am
I swear this is not unnecessary carnage. I was filming an orb spider one night when this thing tried to kill me! I kung foo dodged it and it K.O.’d itself on the balcony. Initially I thought it was a mouse that had evolved wings but on further inspection realised it was a moth. This picture shows it unconscious but still alive. I now know from research this is a Giant Wood Moth. I think they spend years underground as pupae only to emerge and try to destroy any humans they encounter. I gather they have a short life span and it started shooting out hundreds of eggs on the money. Lesson: money is dirty and you don’t know where it’s been. In the end I flicked the moth and eggs by the base of a large gum tree, they were probably the next days ant food. It looked in a bad way as it crawled off into the darkness and would have been food for my bearded dragon if I didn’t think there was the posibility of a choking hazard. As a reference, the Austra lian currency shown is about 12cm in length.
Signature: CReadius

Wood Moth lays eggs on currency

Dear CReadius,
We were highly entertained by your encounter with this fecund Wood Moth which is also commonly called a Ghost Moth.

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination
Location: Australia

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