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luna male on wall
A Male Luna Moth
Photo by Mrs. Gray's Class, 2002
Our Luna Moths
Luna Moth Information
Luna Moth Links
LUNA MOTHS
  We purchased our luna cocoons from  William Oehlke.  He has a  great website, Giant Silkmoths of Prince Edward Island, Canada,   http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/izsaturn.htm .  It is a fantastic resource of information about the giant silkmoths. 
These are mounts of a male and female luna moth. The  male has big feather-like antennae and a smaller body than the female.  The female has a large body full of eggs and small feather-like antennae. They were  mounted  by  Ted J. Perez of  Old Town, Florida.
luna mount luna mount  
Photos by Mrs. Gray's Class, 2003
 
   On April 12th we placed our cocoons in a net laundry basket. Mrs. Gray removed the side with a pocket and sewed tulle in its place.  She closed the open end with a piece cut from the pocket side.  She sewed part of the piece onto the opening and used velcro to close the rest of the opening. This allows us to safely open and close our cage.   
  cocoons
Cocoons
Photos by Mrs. Gray's Class,  2010
On April 21st our first luna moth emerged.  He came out during library time.    He has beautiful green wings.
 
first male
Our second luna moth emerged on April 23rd during our lunch time. It was a female. Her abdomen was large because it was full of eggs and she was very lovely.
female  female
During the week of April 26th five more luna moths emerged, one female and four males. All of them emerged in the afternoon.  We did get to watch one work its way out of the cocoon and crawl up the net. Our females have been laying eggs all over the net of the cage.  We are hoping for baby caterpillars in a week or two.
  luna male  male  luna male
These are our new beautiful male luna moths.
baby lunas   luna cats
Our luna eggs have hatched and we have lots of baby caterpillars. They like hickory leaves.
The Luna Moth

A Female Luna Moth
Photo by Mrs. Gray's Class, 1999
     The Luna Moth is also called the "Moon Moth".  This moth is found in many of the eastern United States from Maine to Florida.  It is less common in the western states such as Texas and the Great Plains.  It is also found in the southern areas of the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, P.E.I., New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskachewan. Its wingspan can be five inches.  There are two broods each year. 
Photo by Adam Fleishman
Wings and Things
http://www.wingsandthings.com
     Luna caterpillars like sweetgum, walnut, birch, hickory, and persimmon.  The larvae or caterpillar will grow to about 3.5 inches and are generally green throughout their five growth stages or instars.  There is a lateral yellow line on the Luna caterpillar.  When the caterpillar is ready to form its cocoon, it finds a safe place.  It then starts to spin a sticky thread.  It wraps this sticky thread around its body and also wraps leaves into the cocoon with this sticky thread.  The Luna's cocoon is a loose bag of silk and leaves. 
brown cocoon
Photo by Mrs. Gray's Class, 1999
     When the moth is ready to emerge from its cocoon, it makes a special juice which softens the cocoon and allows it to emerge from the cocoon.  The newly hatched Luna moth has moist, tiny, wrinkled-up wings and a large body.  The moth slowly pumps fluid from its body into its wings.  After an hour of this activity the winds are fully expanded.  The moth then will remain motionless for the rest of the day to allow its wings to dry and harden.  Luna moths are active at night.  The male will fly off looking for a mate while the female will generally remain flightless until it has mated.  Once it has mated the female will fly from plant to plant laying its 150 - 250 eggs.  The eggs will hatch after 8 - 13 days.
Photo by Mark Lasko 
Wings and Things http://www.wingsandthings.com
Links

Giant Silk Moths of Prince Edward island
http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/index.html
Luna Photo
http://entweb.clemson.edu/museum/moths/local/moth19.htm


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 Updated 06/20/10
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