

The now famous poodle moth, species unknown. Photo by: Arthur Anker.

A white moth from Venezuela that bears a striking resemblance to a poodle has become an Internet sensation, after cryptozoologist Karl Shuker posted about the bizarre-looking species on his blog. Photographed in 2009 in Venezulea’s Canaima National Park in the Gran Sabana region by zoologist Arthur Anker from Kyrgyzstan, the white, cuddly-looking moth with massive black eyes has yet to be identified and could be a species still unknown to science.

“When I emailed [Arthur] to ask if he knew this moth’s species, he informed me that he did not, and he also revealed that no other zoologist he’d spoken to knew either,” writes Shuker. “Indeed, no-one had even been able to name its genus!”

While Shuker and entomologists around the world are debating the species, they stress that mystery will not be solved until a specimen of the animal can be recovered.

Hopefully the photo will help spur some ambitious entomologists to trace Anker’s footsteps and attempt to rediscover the ‘poodle moth.’

For more photos from Arthur Anker’s trip in Venezuela.

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