Photograph of Barsine porphyrea copyrighted © by Janice Ang

How is it possible, you wonder, that a moth could evolve the face of a human-made mask or imaginary devil, complete with fire? Could it be mimicking an ape of some kind that munched on these leaves? Or is this merely a case of the relentlessly self-referencing human observer.

WYSIWYG was a meme of the ’90s
our claim to bona fides
we can’t stop affirming
what sets us squirming
the devil inside our nighties

Publisher’s Note: Image of moth, species Barsine porphyrea Snellen, was posted on 29 December 2018 to the Facebook group “Mothing and Mothwatching” by naturalist Janice Ang, who observed the moth on 21 December 2018 in Singapore. No details about the photographer are available; she did not respond to my requests.

Bio: Jack Cooper