The Comet Moth: Madagascar’s Giant Silk Weaver

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By Jordan Lamont · Last updated 7 October 2026

Say it like a local: in Malagasy, lolo means both “moth/butterfly” and “soul” or “spirit” — a single word for the creature and the dead.

Imagine a moth the size of a dinner plate, pale green, trailing two ribbon tails longer than your hand, that hatches without a mouth and lives less than a week. It cannot eat. It does not need to. Everything about the comet moth of Madagascar is extreme, brief and beautiful — and it carries, in its Malagasy name, a quiet reminder of the island’s belief that the dead are never far away.

A giant made of silk and moonlight

The comet moth (Argema mittrei), also called the Madagascan moon moth, is one of the largest silk moths on the planet. Females reach a wingspan of around 20 centimetres; the males carry the feature that names the species — long, trailing hindwing tails that can extend to about 15 centimetres, streaming behind them like the tail of a comet. The wings are a soft luminous green, dusted with eyespots. Seen at night near a forest light, it does not look quite real.

Born without a mouth

The comet moth’s strangest fact is also its most poignant. The adult has no functional mouthparts. It emerges from its cocoon already unable to eat, running entirely on the energy it stored as a caterpillar, and it lives just four to five days. That short adult life has a single purpose: to find a mate and, for the female, to lay her 120–170 eggs. All the moth’s eating was done earlier, as a caterpillar grazing for about two months on Eugenia and Weinmannia leaves. The spectacular adult is, in effect, a brief and glorious reproductive flourish.

The cocoon that shimmers

Before it flies, the comet moth spins one of the most remarkable cocoons in the insect world — a silvery, perforated silk case whose tiny holes let rainwater drain away in the humid forest. That silk, and the beauty of the adult, mean the species is widely bred in captivity for display and for collectors, which also helps take pressure off wild populations. In the forest, though, its real enemy is the same one that threatens so much of Madagascar: the shrinking of the rainforest itself.

The moth and the soul

There is a layer here that pure biology misses. In Malagasy, the word lolo means both a moth or butterfly and a soul or ancestral spirit. A large pale moth appearing at night is, in parts of the island, read as a visit from the dead. Whether or not a given family holds to it, the overlap is telling: on an island where ancestors are ever-present, a creature that emerges transformed, lives briefly and vanishes is a natural emblem of the spirit. The comet moth is science and symbol at once.

Why it matters today

The comet moth distils what makes Madagascar’s wildlife extraordinary — endemic, extreme, and woven into belief. You are most likely to meet one in the eastern rainforests, the same habitats that shelter the island’s lemurs, and your odds rise on a guided night walk. Plan when to visit for the warm, wet months when adults are on the wing, and use our Madagascar travel guide to build the trip.

FAQ

How big is the comet moth?

Females reach a wingspan of around 20 cm, and the male’s ribbon-like hindwing tails can trail up to about 15 cm — Madagascar’s largest silk moth.

Why does the adult comet moth not eat?

Adults have no functional mouthparts. They cannot feed and live only four to five days, devoted entirely to mating and laying eggs.

Where does it live?

It is endemic to the rainforests of Madagascar; caterpillars feed on Eugenia and Weinmannia leaves for about two months before pupating.

Is it endangered?

Habitat loss is the main pressure; it is also bred in captivity for its spectacular silk cocoons and display specimens.