In matters of antennae, I imagine that surface area correlates with sensitivity. The male Hercules Moth Coscinocera Hercules must find his mate within a very short timeframe.
Adult females emerge from the chrysalis without mouth-parts, her 4-5 day life does not include feeding. After she emerges and her wings unfold and dry, she emits pheromones to attract a male. After mating, she will fly away, lay her eggs on the underside of the leaves of a food plant and die shortly after.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
The first photograph is absolutely magnificent! How patient was the hercules moth to let you grab that?
Having just emerged from its cocoon, it is unable to fly and very easy to photograph, except for the blustery conditions that required the use of a flash.
Indeed, that first photo could be the best yet. I think that Neil should publish his collection of Australian wildlife photos in a book.
Great pic Neil! How cleverly the moth is camoflagued against the tree trunk.
Re your previous pic on the spider, it was a good story that your children took ” care” of the spider by feeding it. ( I have two house spiders in the corner of my living room and I never vacuum the corner because I’m a bit scared to hurt the spiders!!! Silly me!
And re the ” mask”. Might be that the mask have two eyes , some insects mimick huge eyes as to scare away enemied, for example butterflies often have eye patterns.