Venezuelan Poodle Moth

Photo: Arthur Anker/Flickr

Is that mothra as a baby? Zoologist Arthur Anker of Brazil's Federal University snapped this fantastic photo of a Venezuelan poodle moth or muslin moth in the Gran Sabana region of Venezuela's Canaima National Park:

It's been compared to a fluffy dog, a Pokemon character and a Power Rangers villain — but whatever it is, the Venezuelan poodle moth has captured the Internet like Mothra in a bad Japanese movie. Now it's up to the experts to figure out exactly where this moth belongs on the tree of life.
The first thing to emphasize is that the poodle moth is no phony concoction like the jackalope, dogerpillar or chupacabra. Its cute, furry, scary look is totally in line with what's expected for a neotropical ornamental moth. In fact, cryptozoologist Karl Shuker found a similar picture of a white, fuzzy critter known as Diaphora mendica, or muslin moth, a member of the lepidopteran family Arctiidae.

Alan Boyle of Cosmic Log has more: here