Giant Leopard Moth
The Giant Leopard moth is a truly beautiful moth and has a distinct pattern of black rings, reminiscent to those found in its namesake - the leopard. It is distributed throughout the Americas from southern Ontario, and southern and eastern United States through New England, Mexico and down to Panama. This moth has some pretty cool defence mechanisms: they release a foul-tasting, yellow fluid to deter predators. In addition, moth's unmistakeable colourings are aposematic, meaning that they are actually "advertising" the moth’s unpalatability to potential predators. The larvae or caterpillar of the Giant Leopard moth is black and covered in spiky hairs and is called a ‘woollybear’. It has red rings that are most visible when it coils up. The main diet of the caterpillar is leaves off trees, shrubs and other woody-stemmed plants.
Death's Head Hawkmoth
With a name like Death's Head Hawkmoths (Acherontia), you’d hope it’d be a cool moth. This moth features in the Hollywood hit ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and has an unmistakeable skull pattern on the back. When irritated, this moth will produce a loud squeak to warn off predators. The Death's Head Hawkmoths is the fastest moth in the world, reaching speeds up to 30 mph. Given its unusual markings, it's probably not surprising that people once considered it a bad omen. However, the larval stage are brightly coloured and can almost be described as beautiful. They might be nice to look at, but when threatened, they click their mandibles and try to bite their attacker.
The Poplar Hawk Moth
The Poplar Hawk Moth is a very odd-looking moth. The irregular shaped wings enable it to camouflage itself in a cluster of dead leaves on its main host tree, the poplar. This moth is found in abundance in the UK in Parkland, gardens, fens, woodland, heathland and moorland. When disturbed Poplar hawk-moths will flash two bright orange patches on their hindwings - as a distraction or startle display - before it flies away. The larvae are smooth bright green caterpillars have yellow stripes and a horn at the tail. Besides poplar, the larvae may feed on aspen, sallow and willows.