A video of an atlas moth is doing rounds on the internet and has stunned many people on social media. People are finding it hard to believe the moth's size and many believe that the video is fake. However, that is not the case. One of the largest moth species in the world, the atlas moth has a wingspan of up to 12 inches and a total surface area of as much as 62 square inches, appearing to be bigger than the human hand.
The video of the moth was posted on Twitter by Tansu Yegen. In the video, one can see the huge moth, which appears like a butterfly, placed on someone's hand. The moth also flaps its wings while the video is being recorded. Sharing the video, Mr Yegen wrote, "The atlas butterfly, seen in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia, is the largest known butterfly in the world with a wingspan of 30 centimeters. The wing surface of the butterfly, decorated with the figure of a cobra snake, reaches 400 square centimeters."
However, Mr Yegen has wrongly identified the moth as a butterfly. Since being shared, the video has over four lakh views and four thousand likes. Many users were confused and surprised when they saw the video. Several users corrected Mr Yegen mentioning that the creature is not a butterfly.
"There moths not butterflies but very impressive species though," said one user.
"Actually a moth, but still, a very cool insect," commented another person.
A third user said, "I am living in Indonesia but never seen that big thing."
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According to the Natural History Museum, the creature is native to China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. It shares a name with "Atlas", the Titan god of Greek mythology. These moths also have a built-in method for frightening off predators and its wingtips resemble cobra snake heads. When threatened, the atlas moth moves its wings slowly to imitate a snake in order to fend off potential attackers.
