While they will readily consume a variety of tree leaves, the caterpillars have regional preferences. The habitat of the luna moth is a deciduous forest, but their precise eating preference depends on their region. The final brood of a year will overwinter in the pupal stage, snug in their cocoons, to emerge as adults in the spring. In the southern part of their range, they can produce as many as three generations in a year, beginning in February and emerging eight to ten weeks apart. The first adults emerge in April or May, and a second group of adults emerges nine to eleven weeks later. In the middle part of their range, around the northeastern United States, they produce two broods a year. In the northern part of the LUNA MOTH range, in the northern United States and Southern Canada, they have one brood a year, reaching adulthood in early June through early July. They are most common in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky, but are easily found east of the Great Plains. Luna moths live in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. This is one of the reasons these moths, although large in number, are scarce to see. She will eventually lay nearly 600 eggs before she, too, dies.Īdult luna moths live for only about 7 days, long enough to breed and lay eggs. She goes from tree to tree, laying small clutches of 4-6 eggs at a time. Once she has mated, the female luna moth begins laying her eggs. He has only a few short days to mate with as many females as he can. Then he flies away searching for another female. When he senses a female nearby, he flies toward her and they mate. The male luna moth has much larger, bushier, and more sensitive antennae than the female, designed to detect these pheromones and be guided toward a female. Her pheromone production peaks at about midnight, enticing the nocturnal males to come find her. However, instead of flying right away, the female stays where she is, and instead begins to emit powerful pheromones designed to attract males. Females emerge later in the day, and also dry their wings, because the ability to fly at night is key for protection from predators. Males emerge in the morning, and spend 2-3 hours drying their wings and preparing for flight. Both moths emerge from their cocoons with weak, damp, folded wings that are not yet ready to fly. While differences between male and female luna moths are difficult to detect earlier in life, it is in their adult phase that the differences become clear. Just before they are ready to make a cocoon, they turn a deep brownish orange color. These actions have been shown to deter many attackers, even though a caterpillar of such enormous size is appealing to many predators. When attacked or threatened, luna moth caterpillars can rear up on their hind legs, make a clicking sound, and even vomit unpleasant fluids onto their attacker. The larvae go through five instars over the course of two months of feeding, eventually reaching an enormous 65 millimeters in length. The species of tree that the caterpillars favor vary depending on their region, but they live and feed on the leaves of birch, alder, persimmon, hickory, walnut, willow, ash, and other trees. While they are young, they may stay with their siblings, before moving off and settling in to a solitary life of eating the plant they have settled on. Like many caterpillars, their main occupation is eating. Luna moth caterpillars are bright green with pale green or golden spots, and have tiny spiny hairs on them.
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