Huge 9.8 inch, 1oz Giant Wood Moth found in Australian school

Mothra is real, and she is Australian.

Construction workers at an Australian primary school (i.e. elementary school) found a huge bug this week, and have been proudly showing it off as per primary school tradition. To be fair, it is a very cool bug.

The Giant Wood Moth was discovered by builders working on Mount Cotton State School's new classrooms, which are on the edge of a rainforest in south-east Queensland. Giant Wood Moths are common along the Queensland coast, but actually spotting one in the wild is a rarer phenomenon.

"The staff and students weren't surprised by the find as we have a range of animals on our grounds at Mount Cotton State School such as bush turkeys, wallabies, koalas, ducks, the occasional snake that needs to be relocated back to our rainforest, echidnas, tree frogs, possums, chickens, and turtles," said principal Meagan Steward, apparently unaware she is actually running a wildlife park with regular child visitors. "But a Giant Wood Moth was not something we had seen before."

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The Queensland Department of Education couldn't confirm the moth's gender to Mashable, however it's most likely a female. Female Giant Wood Moths have a wingspan of about 25 centimetres (9.8 inches) and can weigh up to 30g (just over an ounce), making them the heaviest moth in the world as well as one of the biggest — so big they struggle to actually fly. Males only reach half this size.

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Giant Wood Moth's caterpillars are also known as witchetty grubs in Australia, and are famous part of Aboriginal bush tucker.

Of course Mothra is Australian. Credit: Mount Cotton State School

Sadly none of Mount Cotton's students got to see the mammoth moth in person, which practically defeats the whole point of a big bug showing up at a primary school. Instead, the builders safely returned it to the rainforest after snapping a few pictures.

"We weren't at school when the builders found the moth but the teachers have shared the photos with the students," said Steward.

The school's combined Year 4/5 class did get to use pictures of the enormous insect as a creative writing prompt though, settling on the idea of giant moth invasion.

"The students wrote some very creative, imaginative pieces of writing — including [their teacher] Mrs Wilson getting eaten by the Giant Wood Moth," said Steward.

The Queensland Department of Education did not respond to Mashable regarding whether the students named the moth, but it's probably best they don't get too attached. Giant Wood Moths only live a few days once they reach this part of their life cycle, and don't actually eat. At least Mrs Wilson is safe.