Attacus Luna

ATTACUS LUNA




Luna Moth adult female


Text from Henry David Thoreau
Photographs by Eliot Porter
Introduction by David R. Brower

ATTACUS LUNA

Description: "Among the larger and more splendid moths of our
own country is the Luna Moth, or Green Emperor Moth, Attacus
Luna a large and beautiful species, common in the Northern United
States. The wings, which are drawn out into what appears like
a long tail, are of a light yellowish-green color, marked with
eye-spots near the middle. The expanse of the wings is four inches.
The caterpillar lives on walnut-trees, and spins a cocoon of which
silk might be made. Many of these cocoons may be picked up on the
ground, in autumn or spring, beneath the trees frequented by these
insect."

Source: S. G. Goodrich Animal Kingdom Illustrated

Last April, we visited our daughter’s home in Baltimore when our
grandson turned three years old. He loves animals, especially the
bugs and insects. We went outside and together we searched for
them around the house. To our surprise, besides the ladybugs, ants,
and bumble bees, we saw a large beautiful green butterfly hanging
on a leaf of the bushes. She was so calm and practically motionless.
She even allowed a gentle touch by my grandson. We tried to locate
her eyes and count the number of her legs. It was a kind of butterfly,
or actually moth, which I had never seen personally before, and
obviously the fact applied to my grandson as well. We then came
back inside the house and searched for the information in one of his
Insect Books. We got more than what we wanted to learn. It was
quite an educational opportunity for my grandson, and for myself
as well.

The other day, while I was flipping through the book “In Wildness Is
the Preservation of the World” as I did now and then, a photo page
of Attacus Luna, or Luna Moth, instantly caught my eye this time.
There is also a short descriptive note before the photo page. It is
from the Henry David Thoreau’s Daily Journal:

June 27, 1859

"At the further Brister’s Spring, under the pine, I find an Attacus
Luna, half hidden under a skunk-cabbage leaf, with its back to the
ground and motionless, on the edge of the swamp. The under side is
a particularly pale hoary green. It is somewhat greener above with a
slightly purplish brown border on the front edge of its front wings,
and a brown, yellow, and whitish eye-spot in the middle of each wing.
It is very sluggish and allows me to turn it over and cover it up with
another leaf, - sleeping till the night come. It has more relation to the
moon by its pale hoary-green color and its sluggishness by day than
by the form of its tail. A frail creature, rarely met with, though not
uncommon."

Yeh Tze