Luna Moth

Tn Gizmo

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Actias luna, commonly known as the Luna Moth, is a lime-green, Nearctic Saturniid moth in the family Saturniidae, subfamily Saturniinae. It has a wingspan of up to four and a half inches, making it one of the largest moths in North America. They have long, tapering hindwings, which have eyespots on them in order to confuse potential predators.
Males have more prominent eyespots where the female’s are more muted. Many people incorrectly call them “lunar” moths vice “luna”.In the southern United States, where we are, there can be as many as three generations in one season. These are spaced every eight to ten weeks beginning in March.Female Luna Moths lay 100–300 eggs, 4–7 eggs at a time, on the underside of leaves, and they incubate for eight to thirteen days.Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna Moths are considered common.As with all Saturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths. They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week.
 

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Beautiful shot,In lived on Cosby for 24 Seasons,summers were my favorite!Leaving the porch lite on drew some pretty awsome moths and bugs!!!
 

Great shot mate :icon_thumleft:, it's getting close to moth time here, I hope to get some shots, hopefully as good as yours :thumbsup:


hammered
 

Thanks everyone, I had been searching for one of these for over a year. I find their wings all of the time beneath the security light after the bats and/or birds eat their bodies. I walked out there with the dog and they were everywhere, came back and got the camera. Didn't know how it would turn out using the flash, but surprise surprise it wasn't too bad. Plus I learned something about their life cycle when I looked on the internet. Have a great day.
Richard
 

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