cecropia moth (unknown artist)

Walk-around of a cecropia moth, Hyalophora cecropia (Linnaeus, 1758) by an unknown artist. This species occurs throughout much of the eastern North America, south and west possibly to southern Arizona.

A little background on this figure. I stumbled upon it on eBay one day. It was being sold alongside a similar wasp (also reviewed here today) as handmade tin insect figurines. The starting bid was about USD 3.50. I bid it, about 1-2 days before closing, with a max bid of USD 20. Well, about 4 hours before it closed, I was outbid. I decided to try for 50. Outbid. 70. Outbid. What the heck, USD 100. Outbid. Hmmm. 120. Outbid. 150. Outbid. I thought what the heck, did USD 200 and was not outbid. Then about 20 minutes later, I got outbid. I decided I was going to let it go. Anything 200 or more for these two figures couldn’t be worth it, right? Well as the last couple hours ticked away I started thinking I was not going to get beat. No way, not today. With 13 seconds left, I snuck in a max bid of USD 225. As usual, when max bids are preplanned, they alternate up about 2 dollars at a time. Well, that started to happen, and I won them in the last second with a bid of USD 220.20! I can’t believe I did that! But with the figures in-hand now, I have absolutely NO regrets!

I contacted the seller to see if she was the artist or know who it was. I introduced myself and my hobby and told her I like the info for my database. She said she was an artist, but not the creators of these gems. She bought them years ago at an estate sale in Florida (where the seller happens to live as well). Who knows where they originated…

On to the figure. The cecropia moth (shown here) has a maximum distance between wing tips of 9.5 cm. The base is 9.0 cm long. It stands 7.0 cm high. It seems to fit into the 1:1 range for this species! The figure was sold as being tin, but it feels maybe wood? Plastic? I honestly cannot tell. The wings are thick and made of the same material as the body. The paint job is exquisite! The only thing that would have made it a bit more realistic is if the antennae were broad, so simulate plumose antennae (even females have slightly plumose antennae). It is attached to a flower with a wire. The flower and its leaves are plastic, but not cheap like plastic flowers usually are. The plastic plant is then attached to a piece of driftwood.

Let’s let the pictures speak for themselves:

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Are those things that are only seen once

and you can not miss the opportunity.

I think fate sent them to you as a reward to your study of insects

congrats.

Looks so real, unbelievable :) Big congrats

SO beautyful !!!!

I totally agree with Fernando, - this figurine surely belongs with you

Wow, that's gorgeous!