Imperial Moth 8 Acre Park Clifton, VA

Was out looking for snakes this afternoon when I happened across this large Imperial Moth.  This guy was spotted attached to a hanging twig dangling in an undercut along Popes Head Creek.  I thought it was dead but when I went to detach it from the twig it dropped to the base of the cut then exuded some sort of musk out its vent. The substance looked something like reptile musk but didn’t have the smell.  Maybe taste bad but I was not tempted to perform that test.

 Didn’t see any reptiles today.

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Ventral View

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