Moon Moth

What am I looking at?

This is the face of an adult female luna moth (Actias luna), also called the American moon moth. It belongs to the family Saturniidae, also known as giant silk moths. In the main image, you can see the moth’s prominent antennae – which serve as a nose, as a temperature sensor, and, when it’s in flight, as a body orientation sensor (1) – as well as its compound eyes (2). Click on the right arrow to see the moth in its caterpillar stage and a full view of the adult moth.

Biology in the background

The luna moth – named after the Roman moon goddess, Luna – lives in eastern North America. In the caterpillar stage, it feeds on several different species of broad-leaved trees, including gums, birches, and hickories. These moths spend about 10 days as an egg; six to seven weeks as a caterpillar; two to three weeks within a cocoon as a pupa (also known as a chrysalis); and then, upon emerging in late May or early June, only about one week as a winged adult.

As caterpillars, they spend most of their time eating leaves; as adults, their only responsibility is to mate and then for the females to lay eggs. Once they’ve mated, females can lay up to 400 eggs.

In the caterpillar stage, Actias luna moths can grow up to 90 millimeters long, or a little longer than a human pinky finger. The adult moths can have a wingspan of up to about 18 centimeters, or roughly the length of a whole human hand.

Technique

This image was created using macrophotography.