![]() ![]() The main difference during this phase is the longer tufts of hair and the larger size of the larva in relation to the previous instars.Įach segment is defined with white lines, and the tufts of hair disappear. The base color is the same as the first and second instars, and the base of the tufts turns a deeper brownish-orange hue. It’s still a similar shade of green, but the base of the tufts is yellowish. The larva appears bright green with tufts of hair all over the thorax and black feathery antennae over their heads. There are 5 instars of the Luna moth caterpillar stage: First instar How many instars does the Luna moth have? In this stage, Luna caterpillars eat and molt through 5 instars in 3 to 4 weeks. But it’s the unlikeness of these animals-the dissimilarity between amorphous caterpillar and the alien, marvelous, winged thing that emerges from its winter cocoon-that holds me, that makes me rub the sleep out of my eyes, not quite believing in this fragile green form on the glass.After hatching from the eggs, this moth transitions to the next phase - the larval stage. One thing transforms into another, and the whole world is held together by the continuity. Once in a while, venturing out to the woods, my headlamp beam combing for red oak, I could mistake myself for some strange creature of the night, drawn on by the light. ![]() While they rarely cause any lasting damage to trees, I myself have had to forage whole branches to bring back to my voracious charges. The sound of their chewing is audible at all hours: in case you never read Eric Carle’s timeless children’s book, these caterpillars are very hungry. Roughly the slime-green color of Ghostbusters’ “Ectoplasm,” they grow to be nearly four inches long and thicker than an index finger. Forty-two caterpillars of the Polyphemus Moth, close cousin to the Luna, currently hang from sprigs of red oak in my living room-hairy, fleshy, unglorious things. Given proper care over the course of a year, the insects will go through each stage of their preposterous life-cycle, right before one’s eyes. Pending permission of the other members of the household, one can raise many species of these silk moths in one’s very own home. Eggs are laid and hatched in late spring the caterpillars eat nonstop all summer and by early fall they have cocooned themselves inside a durable silk shell, in which they bide the entire winter, to emerge as moths in spring. It takes neither food nor water: its one aim is to find a mate in the short time remaining to it. All this elaborate get-up, the animal’s “adult” stage, lasts less than a week. ![]() Its wide antennae spread out like the fronds of a tiny yellow fern-this is a male. Its green wings taper into two curling streamers that dangle down behind, excessive as a pianist’s tailcoat. The Luna is pressed to the glass like a lizard, soaking up the light. Many species are uncommon or declining over large parts of their range, and the appearance-or apparition, really-of one at your window, no matter the hour, should rouse you from slumber. ![]() Not to be confused with the domesticated silkmoth ( Bombyx mori), these are some of North America’s largest moths, one of which (the Cecropia) has a wingspan of up to five inches. At my window is an adult Luna Moth, one of the most striking members of the family Saturniidae and of the sub-group commonly known as the Giant Silk Moths. ![]()
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