I photographed this Atlas Moth (Attacus Atlas) at the Cockrell Butterfly Center of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. According to a museum guide, this was a rare sighting as the Atlas is nocturnal and seldom appears during midday hours. She said just about the only time she’d seen them was at opening in the mornings when some of these exquisite creatures are lying dead on the pathways. What a blessing to be able to see and photograph the Atlas in all its living glory! The Atlas Moth has the largest wing surface of all the moths and is called atlas because of the resemblance to maps in its wing patterning. If it were up to me, though, I’d call it a Totem Moth because its wings remind me of images you’d see on Native American Indian totem poles.