Author Topic: The moth that looks like a poodle (Read 5798 times)

islander · « **on:** August 22, 2012, 06:58:06 PM »

Is it a bird? Is it a dog? No... it's a moth that looks like a POODLE!

By Daily Mail Reporter
22 August 2012

It may look like it's just dropped in from Middle-Earth but this fluffy creature is actually a moth.

With its bulging eyes and cotton wool-like coat the moth almost doesn't seem real.

When taxonomist Dr Arthur Anker posted his bizarre picture on Flickr other users were at first skeptical about whether the photograph was a fake.

Is it a bird? Is it a dog? No... it's a moth that looks like a poodle

'Looks like something out of a Harry Potter movie?' wrote one, while another posted: 'It's freaking adorable I want one!!!'

The multi-legged insect is casually tagged a 'Poodle Moth' and there is not mention of a more scientific name.

But believe it or not the strange being really is a true native of Venezuela, where the scientist caught it on camera.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #1 on:** August 22, 2012, 08:08:47 PM »

Hmm, Photoshopper pud diay nis Islander...

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #2 on:** August 22, 2012, 11:04:27 PM »

he he he he! cute lagi ni siya.

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statesville · « **Reply #3 on:** August 23, 2012, 05:45:10 AM »

weird but cute..dili lang ko mohikap basin kuyapan nya ko nah..

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islander · « **Reply #4 on:** August 23, 2012, 02:26:22 PM »

Hmm, Photoshopper pud diay nis Islander...

kun photoshop nga kanang program nga mo-edit, no way. di ko kahibawo unsaon na uy. pero kun photoshop nga mag-shop ug photos sa internet, type nako, hehe. the internet highway is full of surprises.

besides, sa una ra ko nakamatikod nga daghan dinhi sa tb maayong mang-post ug photos... bag-o pa ko namatikdan dayon nako si statesville. dayon naay hubag, hehehe. practice na lang pod ko uy.

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islander · « **Reply #5 on:** August 23, 2012, 02:28:12 PM »

he he he he! cute lagi ni siya.

cute gyod bitaw. i'm just wondering about the design of his eyebrows, or what passes off as eyebrows. or are they eyes? they look like brown hairbrushes. our creator has a sense of humor.

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islander · « **Reply #6 on:** August 23, 2012, 02:29:38 PM »

weird but cute..dili lang ko mohikap basin kuyapan nya ko nah..

kun moth ni, gamay tingali. pero bahalag unsa kadak-a. di gyod pod ko mohikap, much less modagpi. paita ning mora tag gadagpi ug poodle...

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #7 on:** August 23, 2012, 08:40:51 PM »

cute gyod bitaw. i'm just wondering about the design of his eyebrows, or what passes off as eyebrows. or are they eyes? they look like brown hairbrushes. our creator has a sense of humor.

ha ha ha ha! they do look like hairbrushes don't they? and look at those long eyelashes!! he he he

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #8 on:** August 23, 2012, 08:57:52 PM »

kun photoshop nga kanang program nga mo-edit, no way. di ko kahibawo unsaon na uy. pero kun photoshop nga mag-shop ug photos sa internet, type nako, hehe. the internet highway is full of surprises.

besides, sa una ra ko nakamatikod nga daghan dinhi sa tb maayong mang-post ug photos... bag-o pa ko namatikdan dayon nako si statesville. dayon naay hubag, hehehe. practice na lang pod ko uy.

Na hala. Following is a gallery sa iyang mga ig-agaw...

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #9 on:** August 23, 2012, 08:58:20 PM »

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #10 on:** August 23, 2012, 08:59:21 PM »

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #11 on:** August 23, 2012, 08:59:48 PM »

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #12 on:** August 23, 2012, 09:00:22 PM »

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #13 on:** August 23, 2012, 09:00:53 PM »

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #14 on:** August 23, 2012, 09:01:27 PM »

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #15 on:** August 23, 2012, 09:02:01 PM »

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #16 on:** August 23, 2012, 09:02:41 PM »

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islander · « **Reply #17 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:26:30 PM »

atot ba ani... in the internet, anything goes. it always pays to reserve judgment, extend one's disbelief, or simply keep the faith in the milk of human humor.

from a known blogger of a cryptozoologist (if anyone of us here had at least 3 units of cryptozoology in college, you know what this is all about. i haven't heard of this subject until now, honest.

):

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

MYSTERY OF THE VENEZUELAN POODLE MOTH - HAVE YOU SEEN THIS INSECT??

by Dr. Karl Shuker
ShukerNature - http://www.karlshuker.blogspot.com

A furry mystery â€“ the 'Venezuelan poodle moth' (Â© Dr Arthur Anker, aka artour_a/Flickr)

As cryptozoology enthusiasts will readily testify, just a few weeks ago the internet was awash with dazzling but highly deceptive photographs of black lions. Now, the latest animal photo to beguile and bewilder everyone online is this one.

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islander · « **Reply #18 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:27:26 PM »

On 21 August 2012, Facebook friend David Laslett drew my attention to the eyecatching and exceedingly interesting photograph opening this present ShukerNature blog post. He explained that the photo had lately appeared all over the internet, and was labelled as 'the Venezuelan poodle moth'. Yet in spite of this insect's memorable name and very unusual appearance, and although he had spent a considerable time online attempting to identify it, David had not been able to find out anything whatsoever concerning it, not even its scientific name â€“ only ever more copies of this same photograph and the same name applied to its furry-limbed, white-winged subject.

Greatly intrigued, David asked me if I knew this moth's species and whether I could trace any information regarding it. And so, without further ado, and as Sherlock Holmes might well have said in such a situation, the game was afoot!

I love a challenge!!

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islander · « **Reply #19 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:31:56 PM »

It was a species that I'd never seen before, so I spent quite a time researching its photograph, its name, and its supposed provenance (Venezuela) online, but, just as David had reported, nothing! The photo had appeared on countless websites recently, but with no additional details. Consequently, as someone who has exposed various hoax wildlife photographs in the past, such as those purportedly depicting genuine black lions* and multi-headed cobras**, I naturally began to wonder whether the poodle moth was the Photoshopped creation of a poodle-faker!

Larvae of the poodle moth?!! A pair of delightful dogerpillars, courtesy of Photoshop

*click http://www.karlshuker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/black-lions-manipulation-melanism-and.html to see shuker's investigation of those
**click http://www.karlshuker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/modern-day-nagasor-photoshopped-frauds.html for shuker's investigation of those

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islander · « **Reply #20 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:41:50 PM »

Happily, however, I was proven wrong, because eventually I traced the photographer responsible for this enigmatic snapshot, and discovered that he was a bona fide zoologist called Dr Arthur Anker (or Art for short), from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, who had snapped this picture plus many additional (and equally breathtaking) photographs of Venezuelan insects and other wildlife while visiting Venezuela during the winter of 2008/9.

These photographs formed just one set of numerous spectacular images that Art has taken while visiting tropical rainforests and other exotic locations worldwide, and which he has placed in photosets on the Flickr website (his Flickr user name is artour_a).

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islander · « **Reply #21 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:42:29 PM »

His poodle moth photograph was snapped on 1 January 2009, and appears in his 'Venezuelan Gran Sabana' photoset (click here) and also in his 'Neotropical Moths' photoset (click here). However, he had not included a scientific name for it, merely 'Poodle moth, Venezuela', together with details of the camera and photo-settings used when taking this particular macro-photograph. These were: NIKON E8700, f/6.6, 1/4000 sec, 27.3mm, ISO 50.

When I emailed Art to ask if he knew this moth's species, he informed me that he did not, and he also revealed that no other zoologist he'd spoken to knew either. Indeed, no-one had even been able to name its genus!

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islander · « **Reply #22 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:52:53 PM »

An 1853 engraving of tiger moths - familiar members of the family Arctiidae (Pierre Auguste Joseph Drapiez)

Conducting some more internet searches regarding this moth, which by now had seriously begun to fascinate and frustrate me in equal measure, I came upon a few sites claiming that it was actually the muslin moth Diaphora mendica, a member of the lepidopteran family Arctiidae, which also houses the familiar tiger moths and ermine moths. There are even photos of the muslin moth online that have been labelled as poodle moths. Yet although the muslin moth bears a superficial similarity to the poodle moth, it is less furry and, in any case, is exclusively Palaearctic in distribution.

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islander · « **Reply #23 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:54:57 PM »

One photo in particular that has been copied on a number of websites and labelled as the Venezuelan poodle moth is this one:

Muslin moth Diaphora mendica (Â© DrPhotoMoto/Flickr)

Happily, however, its original photographer, whose Flickr name is DrPhotoMoto, included within its description its species' correct identification as D. mendica (though he did also dub it as both the muslin moth and the poodle moth), and he noted that it had been snapped by him on 20 May 2009 in Richmond County, North Carolina.

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islander · « **Reply #24 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:55:58 PM »

But could Art's Venezuelan poodle moth be a related, Neotropical species? In fact, there are over 6000 Neotropical species within Arctiidae, so this is certainly a plausible possibility.

Nevertheless, here is where the trail goes cold, as I have been unable to uncover any further information appertaining to Venezuela's very perplexing little lepidopteran.

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islander · « **Reply #25 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:58:01 PM »

So: Do you know its scientific name, or at least the genus in which it belongs? Is it indeed a member of Arctiidae, or are its taxonomic affinities elsewhere? Could it even be a species still undescribed by science? Thousands of new insects are discovered every year in the South American rainforests, so it would be by no means unusual if Art's Venezuelan poodle moth proved to be one too.

If anyone can shed any light on the identity of this charming mystery moth, I'd love to hear from you. I will also pass on any details to Art, who has very kindly permitted me to prepare this ShukerNature blog post and include his singularly intriguing photograph in it â€“ thanks, Art!

Another photograph of Diaphora mendica, the muslin moth (Â© entomart/Wikipedia)

http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/

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islander · « **Reply #26 on:** August 24, 2012, 02:58:53 PM »

whew! salamat kay tinuod diay. ambot lang kaha ning ubang photos posted by hubag. they're getting stranger by each post.

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islander · « **Reply #27 on:** August 24, 2012, 03:00:56 PM »

next: the man that looks like a moth

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