fraser's hill moths

Macrocilix maia

this beautiful moth, which we fondly call our bug moth, was photographed at the bungalow we were staying in at fraser's hill on 28 dec 2006. notice the pattern of a bug on each forewing. this moth got us raving about the moths at fraser's hill and other moth enthusiasts caught the bug and we rounded up a mothing gang and headed off to fraser's again in april 2007.




the following 3 pictures are some saturniids (family Saturniidae) of fraser's hill that i took during our trip in apr 2007. these moths often have spots that resemble the planet saturn on their wings.

Actias maenas (Malaysian Moon Moth)

this flamboyant beauty (also a saturniid) is the most beautiful moth i have ever seen in my entire life. it was what we came looking for, and it's totally worth being dragged out of my warm and toasty bed to prance around in the cold, misty morning in my pyjamas gawking and shooting pictures of this and all the other beauties.

we didn't get to see the other lunar moth, Actias selene (Indian Moon Moth), but the mothing gang will definitely go on our quest to look for the elusive selene again and again until we find our goddess of the moon (selene is the goddess of the moon in greek mythology).

the following hawkmoths were identified by leong tzi ming (thanks, ming).

Amplypterus panopus

Ambulyx sp. (topside)

the brown colouring left me unprepared for the surprise that awaited me when i went over to the other side of the bush to photograph its front view.

Ambulyx sp. (underside)

the vibrant colours of the underside jolted me quite a bit. these creatures never fail to surprise me!

atlas moth encounter

well, hello! this is my 1st posting for any blog as i am still a blockhead.

i had a recent encounter with an atlas moth, with its underside fully revealed to me as it was perched on the outside of a glass panel on the 12th floor of raffles hospital. as i exited the lift on the 12th floor, i was pleasantly surprised to see a huge moth on the other side of the ceiling to floor glass paneling on 12 sep 2007 at 1030 hrs. i took a photo of it with my camera phone, which is why the picture is not so good, and thought that it must be the beginning of the lunar month. moths usually emerge from the forests and fly towards light especially on moonless nights after the rain. true enough, when i checked the calendar later, i found out that it was the 2nd day of the lunar month so the moth must have flown out on the night of the 1st day of the lunar month and settled on the glass panel as there might have been light in the corridor. the glass panels overlook an inner courtyard within the hospital so the moth might have emerged from there too after metamorphosis.

mad about moths

hi all, i am here at a blogging workshop (there are tons of nature lovers here) and i am writing my first post! yaay! july is my tutor... i would like to blog about moths as i feel that people tend to miss noticing them. they are beautiful. my wish is for everyone to know them more :) especially kids.