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Considered to be the largest moth in the world, the Atlas – Archaeoattacus edwardsii has a wingspan of nearly 25 Cm, 10 inches! Only the white witch moth (Thysania agrippina or Giant aggrippina) is larger: fully stretched, its wingspan can be as wide as 12 inches (30.5 cm). But the Atlas moth still wins over with a much broader surface area.
This image of the Atlas moth has made it’s way across various media around the world from Nicaragua to Nagaland. A viral image of sorts! I figured I may as well post it on my website and lay claim to the image!

The Atlas moth was photographed on the road in some part of remote Arunachal Pradesh. At first I thought the moth may be dead, but upon getting close to it, it raised it’s wings and spread them out. The colours and symmetry drew me into the image. At first I thought of shooting with a macro lens, but later decided that it would look much more striking with my Sigma 15mm Fish-eye. So most of these images were made at a distance of 4-5 cms from the moth revealing it’s character in close up. I need to dig out some more images of the moth with a person’s face in the background. You’ll see how the wingspan of the moth makes the face look small in comparison.

Camera: Canon 5DMark2

Lens: Sigma 15mm f/2.8 fish-eye

Flash: Canon 550 EX – Off camera flash with Diffuser