As described by Jo Tyson…
The beautiful Luna moth lives only 5 days as a moth. Last summer about this time her mother laid eggs on a plant that would be her food source when the eggs hatched into a caterpillar in late summer. This is her ‘eating machine’ time. Eating, eating, eating…… and growing into very large ‘cat’ who will morph into a cocoon in early fall. Here she remains until the miracle occurs. She makes a tiny hole in the cocoon and wiggles out. Her wings unfold and she flaps them at a speed that is unfathomable. ( I’ve held one in my hands while this was occurring and I felt as though I could not keep my hands from levitating upward….an unbelievable sensation.) She uses her five days wisely.
She has no eating mouth parts so eating is no distraction thus she whirls around your lights at night releasing a scent that a potential mate can detect up to five miles away. So he comes courting. (Pay attention when you see one at night, there are often two). After the rondevous and before she dies, she deposits tiny eggs under the leaves of a food plant for her future prodigy….and the beat goes on! A miracle, indeed.
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