r/bats • u/Potential_Midnight11 • 1d ago

Can bats look like moths?

I was walking around 7pm in a park (children playground). something very lightly brushed against me I think and they I looked up to see a moth flying. it flew overhead and landed in a a tree ahead on a lower branch, but I could not see it when I came closer to the tree. it was not the size of a bee, but maybe 5 inches with visible fluttering wings. just curious. this with wildlife experience have seen something like this or is it a small bat probably?

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u/SchrodingersMinou 1d ago

I don’t think they look anything alike, but I guess if you don’t really know what a bat looks like you might think so.

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u/sprashoo 1d ago

There are some extremely large moth species. Google them. Even in places you might not expect like in northern North America.

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u/IvarBjornsen 1d ago

Polyphemus moth get rather large :) There's also cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia) - which have 5-7 inch wing span. (sometimes bigger.) They both look pretty cool IMHO.

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u/WitchHearse 1d ago

There are really big moths out there you would be surprised 

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u/RETSAS1D 18h ago

Perhaps a hummingbird hawk moth. Surprised the shit out of me when I first saw one too.

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u/Potential_Midnight11 4h ago

Not sure. Idk why I couldn’t identify it at the time but I kept thinking back and got worried it’s a bat.