The Luna moth is one of the most recognizable moths in the world. When the moth emerges from its cocoon, it bursts forth with fuzzy white legs and folded wings.

Diet: Luna moth caterpillars prefer the foliage of hickory, walnut, sweet-gum, persimmon and birch trees. During their adult stage, luna moths do not eat. They can’t – they have no mouth parts.

The luna moth is one of the world’s best-known moths. It has been used in various logos, many an artist has interpreted it and even the most neophyte moth-ers instantly recognize it.

Most don’t realize the Luna moth is one of the giant silkworm species. To get ready for the pupae, or cocoon stage, the caterpillar spins a silk yarn wrapped in a leaf where it will undergo the ...

A luna begins life as one of up to 300 eggs deposited by a female moth on an appropriate host plant. Suitable fodder includes tree species such as beech, cherry, hickory and walnut.

Luna moth caterpillars pass through five instars, each lasting five to seven days before they are ready to spin a cocoon. By this point they have grown to a length of almost two inches.

The pupae will stay in this cocoon for a few weeks — or over winter if it is late fall — rearranging their body parts, transforming from a pale-green, juicy caterpillar into an ethereal moth ...

Luna moths live on the leaf energy that the caterpillars stored the previous summer. The adult moths don't eat; they don't have mouths. Their only purpose is to mate, and they only live about a week.

To learn more about moths, including the Luna, celebrate National Moth Week at an evening program on Friday, July 25, at New Jersey Audubon’s Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary, 11 Hardscrabble ...