Local Moth Species

Haiya!

I'll introduce a few local moth species!

Family Uraniidae

The moth we are most familiar with from this family is known as the tropical swallowtail moth, or Lyssa zampa. This species had always been around Singapore, but they started appearing in extremely large numbers all over the nation. The explanation is that the rise in temperature resulted in mass flowering, hence nectar abundance. I'm pretty sure most of you have seen one.

Tropical Swallowtail Moth
http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/straitstimes.com/files/imagecache/2014_revamp_615x346/20140521/Emak-Moth-22105e.jpg

Family Saturniidae 

Atlas moth, from the family Saturniidae, is known as the moth with the largest wingspan. These impressive (and slightly intimidating) creatures are actually completely harmless... They don't even have mouths! (Well, most moths don't have mouths, and some drink nectar, though they are notorious for eating clothes in your wardrobe.) Can you see the saturniid pattern on its wings?

Fluttering Atlas Moth
http://i.imgur.com/I7cud0v.gif

Family Sphingidae 

These are the Hawk Moths. However, the one found in Singapore is the Death's-head Hawk moth, also known as Acherontia lachesis. Just look at that skull shape on its body!

Spooky Death's-head hawk moth!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death%27s-head_Hawkmoth#/media/File:Acherontia_lachesis_MHNT_Female_N%C3%AElg%C3%AEri_(Tamil_Nadu)_Dorsal.jpg

Sources

Leong, T. (2008). Sphingidae of Singapore (1st ed.). Retrieved from chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/http://www.butterfly-insect.com/alcs2008/proceedings/Dr-Leong-poster-Sphingidae-of-Singapore.pdf