Polyphemus Moth

We have a fellow at work that is a general "make everything work" guy. He does landscaping and plumbing. He organizes and fixes things. He's the go-to guy when something doesn't work around our building. He noticed this moth around for the last few days and he knows how much I like nature and taking photos. So, he told me about it and I got this picture. Its wingspan is about 5 inches (or about 13 cm). This is a Polyphemus Moth.

Barney Google

They are named for Polyphemus, one of the Cyclops in the Greek legend The Odyssey. The moth is named for this Cyclops because of the prominent eye spots on the wings. But it just goes to show that in naming things, some people would rather show that they've read classical literature (or heard about it) rather than give something a name that makes sense. It would be one thing if there was only one large eye-shaped mark on the wings but there are two (and four if you count the two smaller ones on the upper wings). I think it would have made more sense to name this specimen the Barney Google Moth. Barney has two big eyes and he's a famous fictional character, too. But no, that wouldn't go over very well would it? We've go to be a little pretentious about it - like using words like pretentious. Welcome to the club.