Sphinx Moth – Ecuador

The cryptic colouration of this sphinx moth likely protects it from bird predation during the day while it’s resting among the jungle foliage. Much as camo clothing won’t keep a person hidden in the middle of a parking lot, this cryptic colouration did diddly squat when an undergraduate student decided to release the moth off a second storey balcony in mid-afternoon while surrounded by Amazonian jungle! The ill-fated moth didn’t make it 20 feet before it was picked out of the air by a lucky fly catcher and dismantled in a poof of scales.

At least the students learned a little lesson on how not to release insects…