Michael Crowley / Moment / Getty Images
If you have seen a live luna moth, consider yourself lucky.
This large, beautifulmothis part of theSaturniidaefamily.
It is sometimes called the American Moon Moth.
Michael Crowley / Moment / Getty Images
Seen primarily during spring and early summer, the moth typically produces two generations each year.
Male luna moths are particularly strong fliers and may fly over relatively long distances.
Female luna moths release a sex-attractant pheromone that is used to attract the male moth from a great distance.
The mating usually occurs during the first couple of hours after midnight.
Once the moth mates and lays its eggs, it dies.
The luna moth caterpillar about five times for three to four weeks until it is about 2.5 inches long.
At this time, it begins spinning a silken cocoon wrapped in a leaf.
It cocoons for two to three weeks before emerging as an adult moth.
A luna moth cuts its way out of a cocoon using tiny serrated spurs on its wings.
Most female luna moths lay about 200 eggs in small batches on the undersides of leaves.
Fun Fact
Once it becomes an adult, the luna moth no longer feeds at all.
Luna Moth.Clemson University, Home & Garden Information Center.
