First US sighting of giant Atlas moth confirmed | Smart news

A homeowner near Seattle made the find of a lifetime this summer when he walked outside and saw a huge, dark orange moth clinging to the wall of his garage. He snapped a photo of the beautiful creature, used his hand for scale, then emailed Patrick Tobin, an entomologist at the University of Washington.

When Tobin read the message, he could hardly believe his eyes. He replied immediately, asking the homeowner to catch the insect before it flew away. The homeowner was at work, but he ran the 45 minutes back to his home in Bellevue to catch the moth in a bag, which Tobin promptly drove over to retrieve.

Now experts have identified the mysterious insect as an Atlas moth (atlas atlas), one of the largest moth species in the world, and they are asking the public to keep an eye out for more of these colorful insects. This July 7 sighting in suburban Seattle is believed to be the first confirmed incidence of the moth in the United States, according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).

With wingspans that can reach up to 10 inches, Atlas moths are native to tropical regions such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines, making the sighting in the Pacific Northwest particularly bizarre.

“It’s like suddenly seeing a black rhinoceros walking downstairs [the interstate]’, Tobin tells John Ryan of KUOW.

Atlas moths are federally quarantined pests, meaning it is illegal to “procure, house, breed, or sell live moths, whether adults, eggs, larvae, or pupae, without a permit” from the United States Department of agriculture, according to the WSDA.

It’s not clear exactly how the Atlas moth made its way to the Pacific Northwest, but scientists have a pretty good guess. Someone with a Bellevue account sold Atlas moth cocoons on eBay for $60 each. The list has since been removed, but Tobin suspects the Atlas moth may have escaped from that illegal seller, the report said Seattle TimesAmanda Zhou.

As of now, this individual sighting does not mean there is a plague. But the state’s agriculture department is asking the public to photograph, collect and report any Atlas moths they see outside, which will help determine if there is actually a population of them in the area.

If more Atlas moths make their way to Washington, it could spell bad news for the region’s fruit growing industry. The adult moths are harmless — they have no mouths — but like caterpillars, they feast on the leaves of apple and cherry trees, which would pose a threat to the state’s fruit growers.

With their intricately patterned wings and large dimensions, the moths would be pretty hard to miss for members of the public. Only the white witch moth (Thysania agrippina) has a larger wingspan, about 14 inches. And Atlas moths are believed to have the largest wing area of ​​any known moth species, reports GizmodoLauren Leffer.

Their wings are tapered at the top and have markings that resemble a snake’s head, which is a handy disguise to confuse hungry predators.

Entomologists aren’t even sure Atlas moths could survive the weather of the Pacific Northwest, but they don’t want to take any chances. The state is working with the USDA to further investigate moth sightings and determine how best to respond, if at all.

Anyone who sees one, whether in Washington or elsewhere in the country, should report the moth to the WSDA or their state’s regulatory officials.

“This is a ‘gee-whiz’ type of insect because it is so large,” Sven Spichiger, WSDA’s managing entomologist, said in a statement. “Even if you’re not looking for bugs, this is the type where people take their phones out and take a picture of them — they’re so eye-catching.”

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