So who’s seen the large green butterfly in the Lunesta commercials hovering above sleeping souls? Well that pretty insect is really a moth and one of my favorites species within the insect world. Saw them for the first time about 10 years ago on Washington Island, Door County. They were flittering about on a full-moon night, so beautiful! One even landed on my shirt too bad I didn't have a camera ahh. The shear size of the moth hypnotized me...so gracefull; haven't been so awestruck since the hatching of a Cecropia Moth (Cecropia, Polyphemus) when I was a child. (Another story to share!)
Luna Moth, (Actias luna). Scattered across eastern North America, the Moth is in the Saturniidae, which includes Giant Silkworm Moths; these are large moths with wingspans of up to almost 6", but the 5" Luna Moth appears even larger because of long tails on its backwings.
Saturnids typically have wings marked by "eyespots" an adaptation that’s supposed to scares off potential predators. The eyespots are especially noticeable against the pale green color of a Luna Moth's wings. Another obvious characteristic of a typical adult Giant Silkworm Moth is its large, feathery "plumose" antennae, comparable to like a feather duster.
In the male Luna Moth, these receptors are especially large and adept at picking up minute traces of pheromones chemicals released by the female that allow males to track her down in complete darkness, or as she flutters against a backlit window at night. (which will be discussed in a story on my experience of a Cecropia moth.) After the female lays several clusters of tiny black eggs, her caterpillars hatch, go through a series of growth stages, and eventually form a papery, thin-walled cocoon on the ground. In warmer parts of the Luna Moth's range, there are two complete generations per year.
Luna Moth caterpillars, which reach lengths of slightly more than 3", are ravenous eaters that dine on the leaves of hickories, walnuts, birches, Common Persimmon, and Sweet Gum. NOTE TO PLANT THESE SCHRUBS OR TREES! Like other caterpillars, their multiple mouthparts are adapted for chewing, if you’ve never taken the time to watch a caterpillar eat its meal its very intriguing since they easily make short work of a tasty leaf. Just behind the caterpillar's head are the three pairs of "true legs" that reveal its true classification as a six-legged insect. Since those legs are so close to its anterior end, the caterpillar would likely have trouble controlling a lengthy posterior. The hind end is supported by prolegs--"false legs" that can cling to to twigs and branches and move the body along. One pair of prolegs grows from each of five abdominal segments, and the terminal ones are modified further into an opposable grasping pair. Another cool view is to watch the slinky like insect crawl. Despite being well formed and highly functional in the Luna Moth's larval stage, all the false feet disappear when a caterpillar metamorphoses into the adult.
Luna Moths populations have been extremely decimated from habitat loss in many parts of their range; the insect was far more common before the elimination of the American Chestnuts food source and also by spraying of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides/herbicides. As a fellow Wisconsinite I would like to see more conservation of the Luna Moth, be generous in the amount of chems applied and plant their favorite foods: hickories, walnuts, birches. The fascinating Luna Moth caterpillar and its later the showy adult form can flourish here for generations to come if we strive to accommodate the species.
