I had a wonderful discovery yesterday outside my art studio seeing a Luna Moth. It’s the first I’ve seen in many years. I want to share with you my photographs and some information I’ve learned about this beautiful moth. 

The Luna Moth, American Moon Moth or Actias luna (Linnaeus) is one of the best known American silk moths, although it does not produce a large amount of silk.  It has beautiful pale luminous lime-green wings and is one of the largest moths in North America, with wingspans ranging from 3.5 to 5 inches, but rarely larger than 7 inches. These night fliers with their green color, elongated, ruffled swallowtail, wing eye spots, flow and shimmer in the night.

The luna moth here in south Texas can produce as many as three generations each year. The multiple generations spaced every eight to ten weeks apart and often start in Feb. and March. Females tend to lay 400 to 600 eggs, 4-7 eggs at a time, on the underside of leaves. The eggs incubate in eight to thirteen days. It takes a total of 51 weeks from the egg to wing stage.

I’ve learned that the phase between the two periods of molting (shedding old hair, skin or shell is to make way for new growth) the development of an insect larva called instar. The instar generally takes about five to seven days to complete. They usually go through five instars before cocooning.

After the caterpillars hatch they tend to wander around before chowing down on a particular vegetation. These caterpillars are born to eat from the moment they chew through the wall of their egg to the time they pupate (transformation stage) into the cocoon.  Here in Texas the caterpillars prefer to feed on pecan, hickory, persimmon, sweet gum, sumac, walnut and willow leaves. The leaf consuming caterpillar has five months to eat, wander, eat and contemplate…..
before cocooning. The last fifth instar the caterpillar will engage in a “gut dump” where any excess water, food, feces, and fluids discharged.  The Luna caterpillars usually spin their cocoons in the leaf litter at the base of the trees they live in and pupates after spinning its cocoon. The pupa is particularly active, especially when disturbed, if it feels threatened. The moth will wiggle within its cocoon and make a noise. The cocoon period takes about two weeks and the adults emerge from their cocoons, in the morning hours. 

 

The male luna moths is distinguished from the females by their larger and wider intricately branched antennae, which helps them detect scent pheromones (a chemical substance produced to affect behavior) released by females. The male antenna’s are so sensitive it can detect just a few molecules in the air. He immediately flows the scent up wind in the night. Once he meets her they are in mating position for up to 20 hours. WOW!!! 

 

The luna moths have very distinctive large “eye spots” on them that could be used to scare away an attacking predator allowing the moth time to get away in the night. They are fascinating to see as you can tell in these in my photos. 

 After seven long months as a pupa, with its movement inside, it evolves into an awesome and graceful night flyer.  It almost looks like a fairy in flight. The Luna Moths sole purpose, besides to dazzle us with its beauty, is to mate and produce offspring before dying. When a Luna moth emerges their wings they must enlarge by pumping bodily liquids through them. Their wings are soft and must climb somewhere safe to allow their wing to harden before they can fly away. This process takes about two hours. Wings to their death takes one week. During that time they never eat or drink, because the adult moths do not have mouths. They emerge solely to mate and have only one mate!

I hope you have learned something about this beautiful moth. I’ve tried to make my post understandable for my grandchildren, with some of the unusual words for them. Our God is an Awesome God, in all of His creations. We ( * ) need to take time appreciate, *learn and *love (ALL) He has around us! 

Until next time….Gods Blessings to You!