Luna Moth at the Aerie

When we arrived home in the wee hours of Sunday morning (2 AM), I noticed a Luna Moth fluttering around the lights outside the garage and front door as we unpacked the truck. It disappeared and i thought nothing of it until Terry called me into the garage this morning. After five days inside the garage, this moth had finally reappeared. It was tangled in some cobwebs and looked considerably worse for wear. It had spiderwebs wrapped around its legs and the tips of its wings and "tail" were shredded and bedraggled. I removed the webs and set it outside on one of the log ends where it promptly got blown about.

It was still alive and moving feebly but it doesn't look like it will survive. Based upon the "fuzziness" of its antennae I am assuming that this is a male. They use scent to track down females and the antennae are their olfactory system.

Luna Moth

These are beautiful moths--among the largest in North America--and it always disturbs me to see one die, but they are far from uncommon or endangered as some think. We had many appear in the shrubs along the edge of the clearing when we were constructing our home. A temporary street light that served as our night protection system early on attracted them to the area and, as to be expected, that brought bats out to feed. Only the wings would remain to tell the tale.