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Can you touch a luna moth caterpillar?
If you choose to handle your caterpillars, be very gentle. Wash your hands before and after accessing their shelter to prevent the spread of bacteria. Do not pull or tug on the caterpillars. Let them come to you and climb off you on their own, as being forceful may damage their appendages.
Are luna moth caterpillars rare?
Luna moths are not rare, but are rarely seen due to their very brief (7–10 day) adult lives and nocturnal flying time. As with all giant silk moths, the adults only have vestigial mouthparts and no digestive system and therefore do not eat in their adult form, instead relying on energy they stored up as caterpillars.
What does a luna moth caterpillar eat?
Found only in North America, the luna moth starts out as a very hungry caterpillar. Newly hatched, this caterpillar constantly munches on the leaves of walnut, hickory, sweet gum, and paper birch trees. After about a month of filling up on these plants, the caterpillar builds a cocoon.
How long does it take for a Luna caterpillar to turn into a butterfly?
Luna moths belong to the family of giant silkworm moths called Saturniidae. These magnificent creatures can live less than 10 days as a winged adult after taking up to 12 months for metamorphosis.
Should you touch a luna moth?
And while it might be tempting to touch it, it's best just to observe it from a respectful distance and count yourself lucky to have witnessed its glory. Luna moths are a variety of giant silk moth, which line their cocoons with silk.
Can you keep a luna moth as a pet?
Does the Luna Moth Make a Good Pet. Luna moths do not generally make good pets. Handling them can damage their wings, so they are a hands-off pet. You can raise the larvae if you know what type of host plant they require, but you should release the adult moth so it can reproduce with its own kind.
Can you keep a caterpillar as a pet?
Caterpillars make great, easy pets for kids and adults alike. As long as you provide them with enough to eat, they require relatively little effort to take care of.
What does it mean to find a luna moth?
Luna moths are also said to bring luck because they're so special and a rare sight. If you see one, you can consider yourself lucky, because they're a relatively rare spot nowadays. And their eyes on the wings create an aura of mysticism as they make us feel like they're watching us.
How long do luna moth caterpillars live?
approximately one weekLuna moths live approximately one week after emerging from the cocoon. During this time, males can fly long distances to mate with females if necessary. Once females lay eggs, they die.
What month do luna moths hatch?
In the northern parts of their range, including our Finger Lakes region, luna moths typically breed once per year in June. In the south, luna moths breed up to three times a year.
Where do luna moth caterpillars cocoon?
When caterpillars are full-grown, they may begin to wander. The cocoon is spun among the leaves of the deciduous host plants but is not anchored to a twig as is the case with many polyphemus moth cocoons.
What plants attract luna moths?
Female Luna moths lay grayish-brown, cylindrical eggs singly or in small groups on the underside of host-plant leaves. White birch is the favored host plant in the North. Black walnut, butternut, hickory, persimmon, sweetgum, alder, beech, willow, wild cherry or sumac may be chosen in other locations.
Overview
Description
Eggs, attached in small groups to undersides of leaves, are mottled white and brown, slightly oval, and roughly 1.5 millimeters in diameter. Larvae are primarily green, with sparse hairs. The first instar, emerging from the egg, reaches a length of 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in), the second 9–10 mm (0.35–0.39 in), the third 12–16 mm (0.47–0.63 in) and the fourth 23–26 mm (0.91–1.02 in). The fifth (final) instar grows to approximately 70–90 mm (2.8–3.5 in) in length. Small, colorful dots …
Etymology
Described and named Phalena plumata caudata by James Petiver in 1700, this was the first North American saturniid to be reported in the insect literature. The initial Latin name, which roughly translates to "brilliant, feather tail", was replaced when Carl Linnaeus described the species in 1758 in the tenth edition of Systema Naturae, and renamed it Phalaena luna, later Actias luna, with luna derived from Luna, the Roman moon goddess. The common name became "Luna moth". Several …
Distribution
The Luna moth is found in North America, from east of the Great Plains in the United States – Florida to Maine, and from Saskatchewan eastward through central Quebec to Nova Scotia in Canada. Luna moths are also rarely found in Western Europe as vagrants.
Life cycle
Based on the climate in which they live, Luna moths produce different numbers of generations per year. In Canada and northern regions of the United States they are univoltine, meaning one generation per year. Life stages are approximately 10 days as eggs, 6–7 weeks as larvae, 2-3 weeks as pupae, finishing with one week as winged adults appearing in late May or early June. In the mid-Atlantic states the species is bivoltine, and farther south trivoltine, meaning respectively …
Predators and parasites
Some species of giant silk moth larvae are known to make clicking noises when attacked by rubbing their serrated mandibles together. These clicks are audible to humans and extend into ultrasound frequencies audible to predators. Clicks are thought to be a form of aposematic warning signaling, made prior to predator-deterring regurgitation of intestinal contents. Luna moth larvae click and regurgitate, with the regurgitated material confirmed as being a predator deterre…
Host plants
The larvae of Luna moths feed on several different species of broadleaf trees. The larvae do not reach population densities sufficient to cause significant damage to their host trees. Tuskes listed white birch (Betula papyrifera), American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) American sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), plus several species of hickory (Carya), walnut (Juglans) and sumac (Rhus) as host plants for the caterpillars. Other tree species have been identified as suita…
In popular culture
The Luna moth appeared on a first class United States postage stamp issued in June 1987. Although more than two dozen butterflies have been so honored, as of 2019 this is the only moth.
The American rock band R.E.M. references Luna moths in two songs: "You" from their 1994 album Monster and "Boy in the Well" from their 2004 album Around the Sun.
The band Big Thief references the Luna moth on their song "Strange" from the 2019 album U.F.O.F.
Introduction
Distribution
Description
Life Cycle and Biology
Host Plants
Natural Enemies
- Luna caterpillars are hosts for a number of insect parasitoids in the families Tachinidae, Ichneumonidae, and Pteromalidae (Tuskes et al. 1996, Kellog et al. 2003). All luna moth stages also are subject to predation by a variety of invertebrates and/or vertebrate predators. The adults are not even safe at night. Kellog et al. (2003) reported that t...
Defenses
Selected References