Can you identify this moth?
Hi! I have attached a picture of a moth that we found on our back porch tonight. It’s a mint green color with a dark brown stripe along the top. Pretty big and very beautiful. We live in Orlando, FL (if that helps at all). We hope you can tell us what it is. Thanks,
The Pappas Family
(Shannon, Erik, Maddison, and Hunter) Shannon
Hi Pappas Family,
This is a Luna Moth, a species that ranges throughout the Eastern U.S. and Canada. There are two generations in the south, hence your late in the year sighting.
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Posted 03 October 2007
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Emailing:moth????????
My sister found this in her yard today. She lives in New Smyrna Beach, FL. Do you know what it is? Looks like an alien! Thanks so much,
Joanie
Hi Joanie,
This is a newly metamorphosed Luna Moth whose wings will soon expand to their full size. We have two pages on our site devoted to this etherial beauty.
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Posted 19 September 2007
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Oh dear, another Luna Moth
Obviously you receive piles of photos of these beautiful moths but, after hearing about them for awhile, we finally found our first one. We’re delighted! Especially since "our’s" has such vivid eyes in the middle of the wings. It’s early September in East Texas. We gather these moths appear in the Spring. After seeing photos of the Luna cocoons, we remember finding them on the ground a few months ago. This fella must be getting fairly old. We carefully placed him high in a Sweetgum tree, watched him till he was happily munching on a leaf then left him in peace. We’ve bookmarked your site and will certainly be returning when we find more creatures. Thank you for all your work,
Rebecca (10) and her dad.
Hi Rebecca,
In the South, there are two generations of Luna Moths each year. Adults only live a few days and do not eat, so you were mistaken in believing this moth was munching on leaves. We expect this will probably on of our last posting of an adult Luna Moth until next spring.
It was very gracious of you to respond to our email. A couple of days after find our Luna moth and sending in a photo. my wife was walking in the yard and a “plop” caught her attention. She found a Luna caterpillar at the base of a sweetgum tree. It’s now living in a large jar with a sweetgum twig and a lot of leaves. We’ve downloaded pictures from your site, details from others and a budding “bugologist” has prepared her first spontaneous 5th Grade science project of the year. Thank you for taking the time to respond. My daughter was thrilled. Even more so when she saw the photo of her moth on your site. Best Regards,
Carl Strange
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Posted 09 September 2007
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Luna Moth
Hi Bob,
Thanks so much for your site ! As I’m sure that as many of your viewers, I have suddenly discovered the wonderful world of moths. This beautiful Luna Moth was just outside our door on our business in Gun Barrel City, TX on Aug. 25, 2007. The interesting thing that I’m sure you have noticed ( that we didn’t notice until after viewing the photo ) is that there is a Plume Moth to the right of the Luna Moth. I hope you able to post this and thanks so much for your incredible site and educational information.
Sam & Ron in Gun Barrel City, Texas
Dear Sam and Ron,
We are not exactly sure who Bob is, but we are very happy to post your image of a Luna Moth. The small moth in the photo is a Plume Moth.
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Posted 25 August 2007
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Hey Daniel!
I was just looking through some of those!! I saw you had many unidentified slug caterpillars, which i’ve never seen or heard of! But some of those Automeris species look familiar (some of them were from a differentley described genus), though I dont remember the exact species names offhand. I’ll look through them all and if I see any I know of, I’ll get back to you; I have a few textbooks with some detailed plates. In the meantime, attached are some pictures of Indian moon moths that I raised! The big one on the screen is a female, 7 inches in wingspan! the smaller one on the gold rug is a male.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for sending us your images of Indian Moon Moths, Actias selene. They will find a permanent home in our archives on our Luna 2 page, even though they are relatives of the North American species.
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Posted 14 August 2007
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moths
Dear Bugman,
I live in Fukushima, Japan and found this poor moth stuck to fly paper outside my apartment this morning (the landlord tacks fly paper next to every fluorescent light for misguided reasons). I freed him without harming him and he flew away, but can you tell me if he was in fact a luna moth like I suspect? Sure looks like one, but I thought they were endemic to North America, not Japan. …
(the) Brian Adler
Dear The Brian,
This is Actias artemis, a close relative and look-alike of Actias luna, the American Luna Moth. Actias artemis is native to Japan as well as Korea, China, India and Malaysia.
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Posted 26 July 2007
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Thank You For Your Site
Hey, Thank you for having such a great site. I did a search on "identifying insects," and came across your site only to find the answer to my question half way down the first page. Luna Moth The picture I took is attached. It was taken along a Golf Course in Hampton VA on July 20, 2007. Thanks again,
Anthony A. Paluzzi
Hi Anthony,
Thanks so much for sending us your photo. We are also happy that our site was helpful in your search.
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Posted 23 July 2007
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Luna Moth
Hi!
A couple of week’s ago I found what I now know to be a Luna Moth in our driveway. It flew away before I had a chance to get a picture of it. (A cardinal tried to make breakfast of it, but it escaped safely into our walnut tree.) I tried to identify this beautiful, HUGE, green butterfly, but with no luck. Then one night while watching TV, the ad for "Lunesta" came on and I let out a loud "That’s it!!" A quick search on the internet identified it as the Luna Moth which then lead me to your great site. The picture I’m enclosing is of a second Luna Moth that showed up in the same place as the first one — in our driveway. I spotted it this morning about 6:30 AM and this time I had my camera ready. This fellow is smaller than the first one and in better condition. Maybe it’s a young one? I live about 6 miles north of Richland Center, WI in Rockbridge Township of Richland County. We have several acres of walnut trees so perhaps that is what is attracting them here. In any event, I feel so blessed to have been given a second chance to capture an image of this lovely moth. It is stunning!!
Robin
Hi Robin,
Here at What’s That Bug?, we feel that diligence, patience and research should all be rewarded, and though it isn’t much, we will be posting your image of a Luna Moth on our homepage. We always try to keep timely sightings that will benefit visitors to our site posted on the homepage so our readership doesn’t need to sift through the archives for their answers. Additionally, we always love getting letters from people who have identified their mystery guests by using our archives instead of just clicking the “Ask WTB” link the minute they see it.
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Posted 10 July 2007
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Wonderful Luna moth
Hey to both of you,
We can’t resist to send you pictures of our Luna moth. We discovered your super site while looking for the name of this magnificent butterfly on Internet… Thank you so much for your site, it’s amazing!! We’ve found this Luna moth on the front door just as we returned from our holidays. What a wonderful surprise! She (He?) was waiting for us on 15th of June. We live close to Québec city, wich is quite North for this wonder, no? Keep enjoy!
Geneviève and Judith
Hi Geneieve and Judith,
The Luna Moth ranges well into eastern Canada. You would be amazed at the number of identification requests for Luna Moths we continue to receive, yet not post. We have had numerous images of Luna Moths plastered all over our homepage since March of this year, yet numerous individuals have been unable to find the answer for themselves once they arrive at our site. Seems they never get past the “Ask What’s That Bug?” link. We are considering moving it to the bottom of the page, forcing our less enthusiastic visitors to scroll through the entries first. At any rate, seeing as you did find the answer yourselves, we are posting your image to assist future readers.
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Posted 24 June 2007
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Do you have any pics of Luna Moth eggs? I just shot these….
Hey Bugman,
Caught a (evidently female) Luna Moth the other night. I put it in my daughters butterfly cage so she could see it in the morning. Low and behold, it laid eggs. You have plenty of moth pics on your sight, but I didn’t see any egg pics. Please feel free to use these, if they suit you. Love the sight!
Dave Schloat
Hi Dave,
Rarely do we get egg photos where they are documented as to their identification. These are the first Luna Moth Egg photos we have received.
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Posted 12 June 2007
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GIANT MOTH
What is this moth? This was taken in Eastern TN near the Smokey Mountains. Thanks
Danny
Hi Danny,
The Luna Moth was our featured Bug of the Month for April and that image is still on our homepage in order to provide easy identification for our readers.
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Posted 08 June 2007
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Luna Moth in WI
Hi there!
A friend of mine took this picture of a Luna Moth in Mount Horeb, WI (Dane County). I was very excited when she showed my the shot as I thought WI was out of their range. After a bit of research, I found that there have been a few sightings in the southern part of the state, including Dane County. However, I thought it was rare enough that you might be interested….plus, it was out during the day. I’m hopeful now that I might see one myself someday!
Cindy Zuleger
PS I’ve become addicted to your site…ever since I used it last Summer to ID Box Elder nymphs.
Hi Cindy,
We are thrilled to hear you are such a fan. Thank you for adding to our wonderful Luna Moth archive.
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Posted 05 June 2007
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