Coming out of the gym the other morning, I noticed a strange insect on the wall by the door. It was pouring raining, or I would have gone to the car for my phone and taken a picture, so I can only describe it. It looked just like a ray you’d see in the ocean, but it was green like a mantis. It was about 5 inches long including the tail. I’ve never seen anything like it. Any ideas? I’m in Charlotte, NC btw.
Lunar moth?
That could be it. This image looks closest. Not exact, but pretty close. The wings were more rounded and the tail looked barbed like some rays.
Shudder…well not really. I mean that’s pretty cool looking picture. But IRL a moth the size of a bird would be met with gunshots or fire or me shrieking into the sunset…or otherwise not standing around being curious.
I take that back, I would be pretty curious, but from a distance.
Oh, no, they’re beautiful! And very friendly. They’ll perch on your finger for as long as you care to hold them. Really, they’re no more scary than a butterfly.
Actually Luna Moth.
The images on that page were much more butterfly-like than what I saw. It was more shaped like this.
Even though you’ve gotten an answer, I’m going to move this to GQ anyway.
twickster, MPSIMS moderator
Luna moths really don’t usually spread their wings out butterfly-like, the way they do in the Lunesta Commercials. When resting, they look more like this.
Yes, that’s much closer to what I saw.
The Lunesta commercials also get the antennae all wrong.