The luna moth, Actias luna (Linnaeus), is arguably our most beautiful moth. Examples of its popularity include its appearance on a first class United States postage stamp issued in 1987; its selection to grace the front cover of A Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America (Covell 2005); and the use of an animated luna moth in the current (2007) television commercials for the sleep aid Lunesta.
Described and named (as Phalena plumata caudata) by Petiver in 1700, the luna moth was the first North American saturniid to be reported in the literature (Tuskes et al. 1996). The original Latin name of the luna moth which referred to the long tails was lost when Linnaeus converted the name to a binomial with the specific epithet luna in 1758.
The family name Saturniidae is based on the eyespots of some members of the family that contain concentric rings reminiscent of the planet Saturn (Powell 2003). The luna moth gets its name from its moon-like spots.
Description:
Adults: The adult wingspan is 75 to 105 mm (Covell 2005). Adult luna moths are large green moths with a long tail on each hind wing and discal eyespots on both the fore and hind wings. The luna moth is univoltine (one generation) from Michigan northward, bivoltine throughout the Ohio Valley, and trivoltine southward (Tuskes et al. 1996). In Louisiana and Florida, adults may be found during every month of the year Also, reared specimens often differ in coloration from those in nature (Ferguson 1972).