A photo appearing to be three angry looking snakes has left people baffled as it is revealed to be nothing more than a gentle insect.
Twitter user Rob Allam, who goes by the name @thegallowboob, shared three images of the ‘snakes’ in order to reveal all is not as it seems.
A photo has baffled Twitter users after what appears to be three snakes is actually something harmless
It turns out the trio of ‘snakes’ is actually nothing more than a single moth.
The Attacus Atlas, also known as Atlas Moth, is one of the largest known lepidoptera, the insect species that includes butterflies and moths.
Along with the photos, Rob tweeted: “Attacus Atlas is one of the largest butterflies in the world and lives only for two weeks with one goal in their adult stage – lay eggs and defend them until they hatch while disguised as a snake.”
The creature was revealed to be a giant moth that can imitate a snake when it feels threatened
Despite the revelation, most users could still not believe their eyes and even questioned if there must be at least one snake in the picture.
One user said: “Without zooming in and reading, I thought this was a ‘look, I saved this butterfly from the snake attack’ kind of photos. That disguise is really good.”
While another said: “How’s that top one not an actual snake? This moth would live longer if it didn’t look like I wanted to beat it with a broom.”
The so-called Attacus Atlas is almost as big as a human hand
Most others commented of their shock after taking a couple of glances while praising how good the disguise is.
According to the National History Museum, When the moth is threatened, it will “drop to the floor and writhe around, slowly flapping its wings to imitate snake head” to scare away predators.
Although mostly found in Asia, a sighting of a giant Atlas moth was reported in the UK in 2012.
source: dailystar.co.uk
