The world's largest type of moth has been spotted in a British garden. The rare atlas moth is native to southeast Asia - meaning it is hardly ever seen in the UK.
The creature was found in a back garden in Swindon, Wiltshire, on Tuesday (June 20). According to the Guinness Book of Records, the atlas moth is "the world's largest moth in terms of overall size" with a 30-centimetre wingspan.
Sharron Long, 58, took a picture holding her hand near to the moth to illustrate its sheer size. She said: “My granddaughter came running out saying that there was something she wanted to show me.
"This had me a bit suspicious at first as they’re always pranking me and jumping out at me as I’m quite a jumpy person. Anyways, she took me round the back and there it was on the garden fence, about the same size as my hand.
"I thought they were having me on but knew it was real when I went to touch it and its wing moved.”
She turned to Facebook for advice and added: "Everyone else was just as surprised and shocked as we were. Some were helpful, telling us how we could put it into a large box to move it somewhere safer.
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"Others however were a bit more scared, telling us to burn the fence down. We had to keep an eye on the pigeons as they looked like they wanted a bit of it, but thankfully whilst we were around it was safe.”
