Beautiful Picture Showing Japanese Giant Emperor Moth: Fact Check

Story:

This Picture shows an Amazingly Beautiful Japanese Giant Emperor Moth

Fact Check:

An amazing picture is shared widely on social media and image sharing websites with the claim that it shows a beautiful Japanese Giant Emperor Moth. It appears to show a large, colorful creature resting on a human palm. No, the claims are not true – the picture simply shows a fiber sculpture.

Not Japanese Giant Emperor Moth

Although the ‘colorful creature’ in picture looks incredibly real and life-like, it is not one. The picture indeed comes from a set of images showing Moth and Butterfly Fiber Sculptures. You can some similar pictures of fiber sculptures below.

Yumi Okita, the North Carolina-based fiber artist creates the beautiful textile sculptures of moths, butterflies and other insects using various textiles and embroidery techniques. They are specifically constructed with fabric, embroidery thread, fake fur, wire and feathers. Yumi Okita’s textile moths and butterflies are usually of the size of human hand. You can see many such fiber sculptures from the artist on e-commerce website Etsy.com.

As far as species with that name is concerned, there’s a moth called Japanese giant silkworm (Caligula japonica). There’s also a species of butterfly called Japanese emperor or great purple emperor (Sasakia charonda, see pictures below). But there’s no such shown species called Japanese Giant Emperor Moth.

So, the messages claiming the picture shows a Japanese Giant Emperor Moth are just hoaxes. It is not real and in fact a fiber sculpture.

Hoax or Fact:

Hoax.