Comet Moth

Argema mittrei

The Comet moth or Madagascan moon moth is an African moth, native to the rain forests of Madagascar. The male has a wingspan of twenty centimeters and a tail span of fifteen centimeters, making it one of the world's largest silk moths.
The comet moth or Madagascan moon moth Took this shot at a butterfly farm in the Rotterdam zoo, the Netherlands. Argema mittrei,Comet Moth,Geotagged,Netherlands

Reproduction

The female lays from 120-170 eggs, and after hatching the larvae feed on Eugenia and Weinmannia leaves for approximately two months before pupating. The cocoon has numerous holes to keep the pupa from drowning in the daily rains of its natural habitat. The adult moth cannot feed and only lives for 4 to 5 days. Although endangered in the wild due to habitat loss, the Comet moth is being successfully bred in captivity.
Male comet moth head macro Here is a closeup of the head of a male comet moth with a special emphasis on the large antennae. This moth is so large that it will scare you to death if it flies towards you. Although this photo does not suggest it, the adult male comet moth has no mouth, and thus cannot feed. This one will die within 4 days. Argema mittrei,Comet Moth,Madagascar,Pyreras Reserve

Food

In its natural habit larvae feed on Weinmania eriocampa, Uapaca sp., Eugenia cuneifolia and Sclerocarya caffra

Substitution plants are also Rhus cotinus, Eucalyptus gunnii, Pistachia therebinthus, Pistacia lentiscus, Rhus copallina, Rhus laurina, Rhus toxicodendron, Rhus typhina, Schinus molle, Schinus terebenthifolius, Mimosa sp. and Liquidambar styraciflua.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilySaturniidae
GenusArgema
SpeciesA. mittrei
Photographed in
Madagascar
Netherlands