This week for Flora and Fauna Friday, we’re getting up close and personal with the chartreuse sprite of spring evenings. This week we’re examining the Luna Moth (Actias luna).
Luna Moths are members of the Silk Moth family, Saturnidae. This family holds our largest and most spectacular moths, of which the Luna moth is no exception. Saturnidae includes the stunning Promethea, Polyphemus, Io, and Cecropia Moths as well. Silk Moth caterpillars spin cocoons made of, you guessed it, silk. Although, Saturnidae is not the same family as the Domestic Silkmoth, from whom silk fabric is made.
Luna Moth caterpillars feed on the leaves of a variety of hardwood trees. When they’ve molted four times and reached a hefty size, the caterpillars spin a cocoon and fall from the treetops to hide below the leaf litter. A few weeks later, an adult Luna Moth will emerge or, if pupation occurs in fall, the following spring. Luna Moths are active from spring until fall. However, adult Luna Moths don’t eat and they only live for about a week after emerging. During this week their only motivation is to reproduce and start the cycle anew. Males and Females can be told apart by the size of their feathery antennae. Males use their antennae to sniff out the female’s pheromones. So male antennae are about twice as wide.
Luna Moths, like most Moths, are nocturnal. I’ve seen my fair share of these lime-green, swallow-tailed moths waft in while black-lighting or softly clinging to a tree, freshly emerged, pumping their wings. Nonetheless, stumbling upon a Luna Moth always feels special. An ephemeral emerald emerged from the ether. A glistening jewel loosed from a verdant crown to adorn the bark below. A fleeting bead of beauty that wrenches the eye and splits the mundane.
