An unexpected visitor
I was washing up last night, doing the usual routine, when I hear this knock on the window. A solid thump. I immediately look up yet nothing is there. Strange. I look back at my dishes. 15 seconds pass and then I hear it again. I concluded this was far to loud for it to be my imagination now. Was someone out there? Do I check?
I'm living by myself so this is odd, if not a bit worrying. Real strange. I'm wasn't expecting anyone at 7pm on a Sunday night. But okay, I go back to washing my dishes, starting to really wonder what is going on. Then again! I look up and still nothing. Is someone out there? I must check.
I decide to embrace the unknown and open the front door.
Lo and behold, upon opening the door, as if it had been waiting, a ginormous moth goes flying into the unit! I do not exaggerate when I say that it was within a second of opening the door. It entered immediately and with no hesitation.
What a unit. What a moth. After studying it for sometime and looking at various lepidoptera websites online, I believe it is Oxycanus dirempta, or at least it is in the Oxycanus genus.
Having flown on a chair, it had clearly taken some comfort in my home. I really liked seeing the velvety, hairy nature of its wings.
I also believe the moth was male because males have rami about as long as their spacing. Whereas females have antennae that are barely corrugated as per this source here. Rami are the comb-like teeth along the antennae of moths. It's tough to make out in my photos, but can be seen in person.
Here it is with lemon juice for scale.
As it was so big, I could easily catch it in my hands. With a wingspan of around 6cm, it takes time to get flight going. Further it doesn't help that it knocked its head on walls and windows, and was probably disorientated by all the artificial light.
Anyway, I eventually returned the unexpected (but welcomed) visitor back outside. It made me reflect on how some friends will plan weeks, or even months in advance to meet up with you. Meanwhile other friends just rock up at your door with no notice. I think this moth was definitely the latter.