Polyphemus moth Antheraea polyphemus full 2
by Rick Bures
Title
Polyphemus moth Antheraea polyphemus full 2
Artist
Rick Bures
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Polyphemus moth Antheraea polyphemus full 2. Polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus) full 2. In this horizontal composition, a tan polyphemus moth rests on an iris bud. Rendered in natural light, the diffuse lighting brings out a lot of texture and detail, as well as bringing out the colors of its beautiful markings. The depth of field is controlled such that the moth is well in focus, but the background is thrown a bit out of focus, helping to isolate the subject. The colors of the moth also help distinguish it from its surroundings, as does the difference in lighting between the subject and the background. Taken at an angle, the diagonal lines along the leading edge fof the moth’s wings and repeated in the background add a lot of movement to an otherwise static scene. See my many other photos of this polyphemus moth, as well as many other butterflies and moths. The polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus), with its large eyespots, is named for the cyclops Polyphemus of Greek mythology. A slightly older classification is Telea polyphemus, to distinguish this North American silk moth from its Old World cousin, but the two are so similar that the genus designation of Antheraea for both has prevailed. The polyphemus moth is in the family Saturniidae (again, after its eyespots, which resemble the planet with its rings), the members of this family being giant silk moths. It is a large moth, with a wingspan of up to about 6 inches, and flashes its eyespots when threatened, perhaps in an attempt to distract, frighten, confuse, or surprise the predator. The larval forms of the polyphemus moth are also large, the green caterpillars about the girth of a hotdog wiener when fully grown, and perhaps half the length, or roughly the girth and length of a breakfast sausage. The caterpillars are prodigious eaters, consuming as much as 86,000 times their weight at hatching before cocooning two months later. Polyphemus moths are a good species to illustrate the difference in the antennae between moths and butterflies– in butterflies, the antenna end in a bulb, while in moths the antennae are generally feathery, with the feathering of the female moth being narrow, and of the male quite broad. The polyphemus moth pictured here is a female. The large feathery antennae of the male are used to detect mating pheromones emitted by the female, even at a distance of several miles. Polyphemus moths live only about a week, never eating, having only vestigial mouth parts. In North America, they are distributed widely throughout most of the U.S. and sub-arctic Canada, with the exception of Nevada and Arizona. This polyphemus moth was photographed in Gresham, Oregon.
Uploaded
October 14th, 2017
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