A giant moth that is the same size of 2 firsts has been discovered at a primary school in Australia.
The insect was found by a tradesman that was working on buildings at the site near a rainforest in Queensland.
He took pictures of the monster and shared them on social media.
The good thing about this is that the moth was released back in the forest after pictures of them were taken by the tradesman.
Dr. Christine Lambkin, the head of entomology of Queensland Museum, identified the insect as a giant wood moth.
Another thing that they said was that it was the heaviest of the species ever to be discovered.
The giant wood moth is commonly found between North Queensland and Southern NSW.
It is in grey color with a dark circular pattern on its thorax.
Dr. Lambkin said that wood moths weighed up to 30 grams and the female wingspan can reach up to 25 cm.
Males are much smaller in size.
Talking about the moths, Dr. Lambin said:
They fly very, very poorly. In most cases when the females emerge, they just crawl up a tree or stump of a fence post and wait for the males to find them.
The doctor added that their caterpillars were witchetty grubs, which were consumed by the traditional Aboriginal People.
Dr. Lambkin added during an interview over the radio:
This particular species is very interesting because we don‘t know what actually happens for the first year or so. The first thing we do know is they’re a grub that’s about 4cm long and appears on tree trunks, is black and white striped and burrows into eucalyptus trees, then spends a year or so eating away.
The doctor said that insects were not common but were not unusual to come across.
Meagan Steward, the Principal of the school, said that the find was amazing.
The staff and the students were not surprised because the building is located right next to a rainforest.
The students said that they had seen something bigger than that before.
Talking about the moth, the Principal said:
We weren’t at school when the builders found the moth but they took some photos for us. We have a (year) 4-5 composite class that live in that new building, and the teacher showed the students a picture of the giant moth and they used it as stimulus for a creative piece of writing. The class brainstormed what could happen and they decided on a giant moth invasion. They wrote some very creative and imaginative pieces of writing, including Mrs Wilson (their teacher) getting eaten by the moths.
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