Extremely Rare Giant Wood Moth Spotted at a School in Australia

During the construction of new classrooms at Mount Cotton State University, builders discovered the world's heaviest insect, the giant wood moth.

Giant Wood Moth

According to the Queensland Museum, giant wood moths can be found along the Queensland and New South Wales coasts. Females can weigh up to 30 grams and have a 25-centimeter wingspan. Males are half the size of females.

They have a very short life span, with adults just surviving a few days. After mating and laying eggs, they die.

Meagan Steward, the school's principal, described the moth as an "amazing discovery."

School's Location

Due to the school's place, Steward said it was not uncommon to see various animals on the grounds, including bush turkeys, wallabies, koalas, ducks, the occasional rat, and even a turtle in the library. On Wednesday, she said, "A giant wood moth was not something we have seen before."

The original ABC news coverage and pictures of the moth sparked so much public attention that the school was forced to refer all moth-related issues to the Queensland education department.

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Where to Find the Moths

According to Chris Lambkin, giant wood moths, or Endoxyla cinera, can be found from coastal Queensland to southern NSW, curator of entomology at the Queensland Museum. They were not unusual, she said, but they were seldom seen by humans.

This was presumably attributed to several reasons, including the adult moths' short lifespan and the fact that most inhabitants lived in urban areas where the invertebrate was not present, according to Lambkin.

She said, "The female moths don't fly very much either."

"Most people assume that if they see one, it is an adult that has climbed up a tree trunk or a fence post and is waiting for the male to appear. Normally, you don't see them with their wings stretched out because you don't realize how tall they are, but they're very strong when you pick them up."

Camouflaging in the Woods

The invertebrates bore into the trunks of smooth-barked eucalypts in parks and gardens as tiny caterpillars with purple and white banding. When they mature into bigger grubs, they lose their banding.

According to Lambkin, adult female moths do not eat and instead rely on fats stored as larvae when feeding within the tree trunk.

"We see them for the first time when they're about 2.5cm long and as thick as a lead pencil," she said.

Rare Species

According to the entomologist, nothing was known about the first year of the larval period, which lasted about three years. Female adult moths can grow to be up to 15cm long.

The Queensland Museum said that there are about 60 species of wood moths in Australia, but not all are as large as the giant wood moth, and not all feed on eucalypts.

Before returning the moth to the rainforest, the builders took a picture of it.

After seeing an image of a moth, the year 4-5 class in the new building was asked to come up with a creative writing idea and agreed to write about a moth invasion. Steward said, "The students wrote some very artistic, innovative pieces of poetry, including Mrs. Wilson being eaten by the giant wood moth."

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