North American luna moth
Adults live for only about a week and never eat, surviving entirely on fat reserves built up as a caterpillar before emerging with no working mouthparts at all.
| Where | Deciduous forests across North America |
|---|---|
| Size | 80 to 114 mm wingspan |
| When | March to September |
This large silk moth has pale lime green wings, a white furry body, and long tapering tails on the hindwings, with eyespots on all four wings that help distinguish it from every other moth in North America.
Adults emerge only to mate and lay eggs, living about a week without feeding, while caterpillars spend weeks eating the leaves of hickory, walnut, birch and other trees before spinning a papery cocoon.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Green
Active
Night
To people
Harmless to people; adults have no working mouthparts and cannot feed or bite.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Brown overall rather than lime green, without the long tapering hindwing tails or prominent eyespots of the North American luna moth.
Questions
Is the North American luna moth dangerous to people?
Harmless to people; adults have no working mouthparts and cannot feed or bite.
When can you see the North American luna moth?
The North American luna moth can be seen from March to September, at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by Sam Kieschnick, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Emperor moths›Actias
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.