The Luna Moth on my Window

During the late afternoon on June 26, I glanced up from the computer where I was working on deadline and saw this creature, left wing flapping in the breeze.

I got up for a closer look, wondering what in the heck it was, and then snapped a couple of pictures and texted them to Nancy Kuhajda, University of Illinois Extension Will and Grundy master gardener and program coordinator.

Nancy said it was a luna moth, “magnificent member of the silk moth family.”

“Sadly, these beautiful adults only live about five to ten days days because they're born without mouths,” Nancy said.

Luna moths don’t eat, and they don’t drink, none of the silk moths do. “It’s “tragic, really,” Nancy said.

She said once luna moths hatch from their cocoons, they find their mate and then die.

“In a somewhat chemical irony, there was a sleeping pill called Lunesta that used the lunar moth in their logo,” Nancy said. “In reality moths are up all night.”

So why was this luna moth hanging out on my window? Seeking shade, most likely, Nancy said. Large moths are easy prey for birds and other animals during the day and typically come out after dark, Nancy said.

Lina moths tend to fly high and toward trees, she said.

“Often in the mornings, I'll see them inside the top of the pavilion at Pilcher Park,” Nancy said.  It's just where they hang out. And also if it's not moving, it could have just landed and died there…That's just what happens.”

She said the “little hands” of luna moths have hooks in them, so like they hooking to screens.

“It may have passed, but it could also just be waiting for nighttime,” Nancy said. “And then it'll be there one minute and gone the next.”

I “googled” luna moths and read they symbolize the cycle of life and death, transformation and change.

Hmmm.

So what happened to my luna moth?’

It stayed all evening and was still hanging onto my window when I went to bed. When I awakened in the morning, it was gone.

“Just consider it a blessing that you got to see it so up close,” Nancy said. “Very few people see them live and in-person.”