A single large moth is seen from directly above, wings fully spread and symmetrical, centered in a deep near-black field. Mottled tan and brown patterning spreads across its broad wings, which end in pale scalloped edges, and it has a thick furry thorax, a segmented abdomen and delicate curled antennae.

Soft light from above warms the ridges of the wings and body while the background falls away into shadow. Thin, smooth layers of oil and fine brushstrokes show the canvas weave, and the feathered wing edges lend a painterly softness to what reads as a 17th-century Dutch naturalist study, contemplative and quietly elegant.