Thursday, November 5

Unexpected visitor

 The retreating monsoon has been putting on a marvellous show with incessant rain, mist and brooding grey skies.
Everybody tries and stays indoors where it's warm and dry except for the bison who won't be deterred by a downpour to come prune the rose bushes and leave the little patch of lawn pock marked with hoof indentations.
So it was a real surprise to find this big beautiful yellow moth resting on the wet terracotta tiles of the verandah this afternoon.
A spot of sunshine amidst all the grey. The yellow was so intense and brilliant. It was large, probably as large as the palm of my hand.The patterning on its wings look like marbling. Most unusual.
I need someone to identify this unexpected visitor.
I thought all moths had a shabby chic thing about them but I've been proved wrong after Miss Sunshine appeared on our verandah.
Have a good weekend.

8 comments:

Els said...

Ohhhhh, what a beautiful lady (ehhhhm .... or man)
I can imagine you loved her after all the gray rainy
days ! (I think, I would get really depressed in such
a long wet season ..... We get a lot of rain in our
autumn, but not days and days on end .... )
Whish you some lovely dry days ;-)

Charlton Stitcher said...

This is beautiful indeed! I'm in big butterfly and moth country myself just now (coastal northern Australia). I saw a wonderful brown eyed moth the size of my hand a couple of says ago. To a Brit used to insects no more than 4 cms across, this was really impressive!

Gumbo Lily said...

What a beautiful little gift to you!

Thread Born said...

Gorgeous visitor! I've never seen such a vibrant-colored moth! And what a great photo.

patio garden furniture said...

What a very beautiful visitor! A wonderful photo. Can it visit me too? :)

Maya Sara Matthew said...

Thank you for all your exuberant comments about the golden moth which a friend informed me is the Golden Emperor Moth (Loepa katinka).
Thank you Els for wishing the sunshine reappears soon but the weather forecast is all about rain.
@ Charlton Stitcher - The Golden Emperor Moth was as large as my palm as well. The area I live in has a pretty diverse butterfly and moth population and attracts a number of butterfly experts.
@ Gumbo Lily yes a wonderful unexpected gift.
@Thread Born - my first vibrant moth too.
@ Patio Garden Furniture - well now that you know it's the Golden Emperor Moth maybe you can find out if can be a possible visitor.

Caterina Giglio said...

what an incredible beauty!!

Marta Brysha said...

Oh my god, if I saw a moth with such bright colours I would think I had died and gone to the heaven that I don't actually believe in ;)

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