The Mystery Solved: Moths in Disguise
The puzzle surrounding those pictures of the three seemingly angry “snakes” started to come apart. Back in 2021, a photo Rob Allam shared on Twitter had everyone scratching their heads. It looked like there were three scary serpents lurking in a tree. But, it didn’t take long to realize there was more to this optical illusion.
Turns out, these “snakes” were really just a clever visual trick, courtesy of the wings of two different moth species called the Atlas moth. These moths are native to Asian forests and have an amazing ability to mimic a snake. With a wingspan that can reach up to 24 cm (9.4 in) and a wing surface area of about 160 cm² (≈25 in²), the Atlas moth is one of the biggest Lepidoptera around.