Puriri Moth

New Zealand's biggest moth, it was

always an exciting moment to find one

of these when I was a boy and living in 

the country. 

It has been several years since I

have seen one. They are also

known as Ghost Moths.

Sometimes, at night, they flew inside

our house, laying pearly eggs

by the hundred it seemed.

The moth lives for just a few nights.

It does not feed, it has no mouth parts.

Their caterpillar stage 
can live for five years, in a burrow
in a tree, not just a Puriri, even in
some introduced species like oak.