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Updated May 6th, 2021 at 09:29 IST

Australia: Giant moth size of 'two fists put together' found; it struggles to fly

In what some people dubbed as an “amazing” finding, a gigantic moth was discovered in South Queensland, Australia. The discovery was made by a tradesman.

Reported by: Riya Baibhawi
Australia
Representative Image: MountCottonSS/Facebook  | Image:self
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In what some people dubbed as an “amazing” finding, a gigantic moth was discovered in South Queensland, Australia. The accidental discovery was made by a tradesman, who stumbled across the colossal insect while working at a building site at Mount Cotton State School. Speaking to Independent, Principal Meagan Steward said the moth was the same size as ‘two fists put together’ and was released back into the nearby forest as soon as possible.

Poor flight 

According to Dr Christine Lambkin, an entomologist at Queensland museum, the insect belonged to the species of wood moth. She further said that the wood moths are huge in size, owing to which they “fly, very, very, poorly.” The species ranges from north Queensland all the way through to southern NSW. Dr Lambkin identified the one discovered at the school site to be a female. She said that female wood mths have a wingspan stretching 25 centimetres and body weight totalling 30 grams.

Meanwhile, photographs of the giant moth created a stir on the internet after being shared on Facebook by the school. “Love it! Never leaving the windows open ever again though,” commented a user. While another added that they would do a “karate freak out” if they saw it. Yet another comment read, "They're very common on Queensland coast. That is the biggest I've seen."

 

While wood moths might not be able to fly properly due to their gigantic size, researchers have revealed how ancient flying dinosaurs managed their body weights and took flight. The study published in the journal Science Direct talked about Azhdarchid pterosaurs, which were the world's largest flying reptiles and remained poorly understood. As per the study, the X-ray computed tomography reveals a complex internal micro-architecture for three-dimensionally preserved, hyper-elongate cervical vertebrae of the Cretaceous azhdarchid pterosaur. The study revealed that the incorporation of the neural canal within the body of the vertebra and elongation of the centrum result in a “tube within a tube”, which was supported by helically distributed trabeculae. By studying well-preserved vertebrae specimens excavated from Morocco, the scientists concluded that as few as 50 trabeculae increase the buckling load by up to 90 per cent. 

Representative Image: MountCottonSS/Facebook 

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Published May 6th, 2021 at 09:29 IST

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