Emma’s salon is the ‘moth’-erland
"He'll have no mouth parts so he'll only live for a couple of days."
Cor Vick, curator of natural history at Canterbury Museum
An unusually large moth taking shelter from the storm caught the attention of a Taranaki hairdresser.
Emma Feather, owner of the Headline Salon Hair Boutique in Bell Block, New Plymouth, came across the large moth about 8am on Friday when a staff member thought she saw something stuck to the pole.
Feather went to have a look and realised it was alive.
‘‘I’ve never seen a moth that big in my life,’’ she said. ‘‘That’s what caught my attention.
‘‘I think he’s been moving around the pole a little bit to get out of the rain.
‘‘One client went out there with foils in her hair and took a photo of it.’’
She said she hadn’t seen many moths or wildlife around the Parklands Ave location. The moth was still there when she left at 4pm, she said.
Cor Vick, curator of natural history at Canterbury Museum, identified the Bell Block visitor as a gum emperor moth, and probably a male due to the feathery antennae.
‘‘You don’t come across them that often unless you’re specifically looking for them,’’ Vick explained.
‘‘As an entomologist they’re reasonably common because you’re looking for these sorts of things.’’
He said the moth was introduced from Australia in the 1930s and inhabits the North Island and the top of the South Island.
The caterpillars feed on gum trees, silver birch and grapevines, but are often not seen up in the trees.
‘‘If there’s gum trees nearby you’d find them.
‘‘He’s probably flying around just seeking shelter.
‘‘He’ll have no mouth parts so he’ll only live for a couple of days,’’ Vick added.
Callum Lilley, acting operations manager for the Department of Conservation in New Plymouth, said the moths were not rare as such but it was uncommon to see them.
‘‘This may partly be because they live for such a short amount of time.
‘‘They are unable to feed as adults so only live for a maximum of a couple of weeks, usually shorter.
‘‘I’d say they would be fairly focussed on finding mates and egg laying around their host species during this time.’’