Atlas moth

Probably the most famous of the large moths, the atlas moth belongs to the family Saturniidae which includes the British emperor moth, the North American cecropia moth and the tussah, or tussore, silk-moths of southern Asia, all of which produce a large silk cocoon, several having been used commercially. The female is larger, heavier and more massive than the male, and her hooked fore-wings may span ten inches. The general colour of body a wings is tawny but with a beautiful pattern, and there is a conspicuous triangular, transparent spot on each wing. Habits and life-history The atlas moth is found in the tropics and subtropics, from India, including the Himalayas, eastwards to Malaysia and Indonesia. The spherical eggs, about 2.5 mm in diameter, are laid in clusters on a wide variety of tropical shrubs, including cinnamon and hibiscus. The larvae (caaterpillars0 are at first white but later turn a pale bluish green. The body is ornamented with rows of spines and is covered with a white, waxy powder. Tow, sometimes three months after the eggs are laid, the caterpillar, which is now 4-4.5 in. long and over 1 in. in diameter, spins around itself a tough, papery cocoon of silk in which it pupates. This cocoon is attached to the foliage of the food plant. It has no opening and the moth gets out in the same way as other cocoon spinning insects, by secreting a liquid from the moth parts which dissolves the silk and enables the moth to push its way out. This moth can be kept in captivity in temperate latitudes, feeding readily on privet, willow or rhododendron, but a temperature of 21-26C/70-80F needs to be provided. The largest in the world Atlas, in Greek mythology, was one of the Titans, therefore a giant. The atlas moth is sometimes named as the biggest moth in the world, but in New Guinea and Australia lives the Hercules moth-named after another giant of mythology. Its wings are less than 10 in. across but broad and ample, giving a total surface area of nearly 100 square inches, probably making it, by a short head the largest of all moths. Another candidate for the title is the great owlet moth of South America, which has the widest span, its long, narrow wings measuring up to 12 in., but it is less heavily built than the other two. At the other end of the scale is the midget spotkin, a leaf-boring moth, which is just over 0.083 in. across. Some of the smallest insects of all are beetles known as father-winget beetles (family Trichopterygidae) living in tropical America and Australia. The smallest of these is 0.25 mm long. There is, however, a family of parasitic wasps (family Mymaridae) know as fairy flies, that lay their eggs in the eggs of other insects. The smallest of these is the smallest known insect and is only 0.21 mm long. This mean that there are some insect that are smaller than the largest single-celled animals (the Protozoa) and are truly microscopic. By contrast the largest known insects are4 larger than the smallest vertebrates. The Luzon goby, a fish found in the Philippines, is less than 0.5 in. long when fully grown, so is much smaller than many insects.