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Moth Days
"In the moon’s soft glow, so clear and bright,
A luna moth takes its flight,
With emerald wings, it flitters and dances
A ballet in the night."
Flitter, flutter! It’s Moth Week—a time for lepidopterists, nocturnal naturalists, and moonlight dreamers to don this delicately hued tartan and join the quiet dance of wings beneath the stars. Moths, among the most diverse creatures on Earth, number at least 150,000 known species—with some scientists estimating the total could soar beyond 500,000. From tiny micromoths to the majestic giants of the silk moth family, their forms are as varied as moonlight on leaves.
One of the most enchanting is the Luna Moth, named for Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon—daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister to Helios and Eos. With its pale green wings, long trailing tails, and eerie, mesmerizing eyespots, the Luna Moth has become a symbol of transformation and the mystery of the night. It flutters across North America, from the deep South of Florida to the forests of Maine, and even into Canada as far as Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.
Fittingly, while a group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope, a gathering of moths is known as an eclipse—a poetic nod to their nocturnal allure. The Luna Moth tartan captures this ethereal beauty in threads of soft green, moonlight white, deep night black, and a flicker of golden yellow, echoing the delicate wings and magical markings of its namesake. 💚 🤍 🖤 💚 💛 🦋 🦋 🦋
The butterfly's night cousin, the moths are one of the evening garden's most beautiful companions.
There are many more species of moths than butterflies. Butterflies and skippers (with hooked-shaped antennae) make up 6 -11 percent of Lepidoptera order, while moths make up 89-94 percent!
The largest known moths are the Atlas moths (Saturniidae) with wingspans as large as 12 inches. The smallest moths are from the pygmy moth family (Nepticulidae) with wingspans as small as 3/32nds of an inch.
By designer Carol A.L. Martin, this tartan was created after the designer "saw (a Luna Moth) in my backyard on a lilac bush - a huge pale green moth with markings like little yellow eyes and white stripes."
A member of the Giant Silkworm moth family, Luna Months have a wingspan of four and a half inches. They fly only at night in spring and early summer.
First 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. Its initial Latin name roughly translates to "brilliant, feather tail", and 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. Some species of giant silk moth larvae are known to make clicking noises when attacked by rubbing their serrated mandibles together. They only live about a week as a adults and then perish.
For a video on the lifecycle of the Luna Moth, click the Luna Moths!