--- title: "Luna Moth (Actias luna) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A big green silk moth whose spinning hindwing tails pull bat attacks off its body, and whose adults do not eat." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/luna-moth-1.webp" published: "2026-10-10" updated: "2026-10-10" --- # Luna Moth (*Actias luna*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A big green silk moth whose spinning hindwing tails pull bat attacks off its body, and whose adults do not eat. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Roots Reggae & Heavy Dub // Augustus Pablo, "Java" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/3AU4R9CsFoUa9OlCvAFyFI) > **Vibe Match**: Its hindwing tails lured bat attacks to themselves in 55% of encounters, throwing the bat's echo off the body. Dub does the same with delay: the echo trails off the beat, and the ear chases the echo instead of the note. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Actias luna* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: Spinning hindwing tails that gave tailed moths a survival advantage of about 47% over tailless ones against big brown bats - **Habitat**: Forested areas of eastern North America, from southern Canada to Florida - **Diet**: Leaves of trees such as birch, hickory, walnut, sweetgum and persimmon as a caterpillar; adults do not feed - **Tags**: insect, invertebrate, flying, nocturnal, forest, bizarre-anatomy ## Natural History & Behavior ## Tails that fool bats The luna moth (*Actias luna*) is a pale green giant silk moth with a long tail trailing from each hindwing. Those tails are decoys. Researchers used high-speed infrared video to watch luna moths spin their tails to deflect attacks by echolocating bats (hunters that find prey by the echoes of their own calls) away from the body and toward the tails. Tails lured bat attacks to themselves in 55% of encounters with intact moths, and moths with tails had a survival advantage of about 47% over moths whose tails were removed. > **Four times over** > Long spatulate (spatula-shaped) tails have evolved independently four times in saturniid moths, the family of giant silk moths the luna belongs to. A second study found that the tail echoes are weak compared with those of the wings and body. Their twisted shape, though, creates echoes that persist from every angle, which may make a bat misjudge where the moth is. ## An adult with no appetite The adult wingspan is 75 to 105 mm, about 3 to 4 inches. Adults have vestigial (leftover) mouthparts and do not feed, so they are short-lived. A new adult cuts its way out of the cocoon with serrated, chitinous spurs on its thorax, and it usually emerges in the morning, which allows time for its wings to expand and dry before the evening flight period. A female releases a sex-attractant pheromone, a scent signal, and may attract males from a distance. Researchers identified its compounds, made them artificially, and found in field trials in Ontario and Kentucky that male moths were attracted to one of them on its own. Mating usually takes place during the first couple of hours after midnight. ## A caterpillar that clicks A full-grown caterpillar is bright green and 55 to 70 mm long. Its green coloration hides it, and when threatened it often rears up the front of its body in a "sphinx" pose. If attacked, it also makes a clicking noise with its mandibles, sometimes as a prelude to, or alongside, spitting up distasteful fluid. A study of clicking caterpillars found that luna caterpillars make airborne sounds upon attack, and that the sounds precede regurgitation. The northernmost populations most often eat white birch. Farther south, caterpillars use a variety of host plants, particularly walnuts and hickories, sumacs, sweetgum and persimmon. Development from hatching to pupation takes a month or longer, depending on temperature. ## Where it lives The luna moth is usually found in forested areas. In southern Canada it occurs from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan. In the United States it is found in every eastern state from Maine south to Florida, and west to eastern Texas and eastern North Dakota. Moths from southern populations tend to be smaller. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why do luna moths turn up at porch lights? Adults are strongly drawn to light, especially ultraviolet wavelengths. A University of Florida fact sheet reports some concern that light pollution, particularly mercury vapor street lights, may deter luna moths and other silk moths from mating in cities. *(Source: [Hall 2007]())* ### How many broods does a luna moth have a year? It depends on where the moth lives. Northern populations from Michigan up have one generation, the Ohio Valley has two, and the south has three. In Louisiana and Florida, adults can be found in every month of the year. *(Source: [Hall 2007]())* ### Where do luna moth cocoons end up? The cocoon is spun among the leaves but is not anchored to a twig. It falls to the ground in autumn as the leaves fall, and cocoons are not commonly seen. *(Source: [Hall 2007]())* ## Sources 1. [Hall (2007). Luna Moth, Actias (=Tropaea) luna (Linneaus) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Saturniinae). EDIS, University of Florida.]() 2. [Barber et al. (2015). Moth tails divert bat attack: Evolution of acoustic deflection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.]() 3. [Lee & Moss (2016). Can the elongated hindwing tails of fluttering moths serve as false sonar targets to divert bat attacks? The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.]() 4. [Brown, Boettner & Yack (2007). Clicking caterpillars: acoustic aposematism in Antheraea polyphemus and other Bombycoidea. Journal of Experimental Biology.]() 5. [Millar et al. (2016). Sex Attractant Pheromone of the Luna Moth, Actias luna (Linnaeus). Journal of Chemical Ecology.]() 6. [Actias luna (luna moth). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() *Published October 10, 2026. Last updated October 10, 2026.* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/luna-moth/#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#website" }, "headline": "Luna Moth (Actias luna) | AnimalTracks.wiki", "description": "A big green silk moth whose spinning hindwing tails pull bat attacks off its body, and whose adults do not eat.", "image": [ "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/luna-moth-1.webp" ], "datePublished": "2026-10-10", "dateModified": "2026-10-10", "author": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki Editorial Team", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/#organization", "name": "AnimalTracks.wiki", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" } }, "mainEntityOfPage": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/luna-moth/", "citation": [ { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Luna Moth, Actias (=Tropaea) luna (Linneaus) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Saturniinae)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in737-2007", "author": "Hall", "datePublished": "2007", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "EDIS, University of Florida" }, "identifier": "doi:10.32473/edis-in737-2007" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Moth tails divert bat attack: Evolution of acoustic deflection", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1421926112", "author": "Barber et al.", "datePublished": "2015", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1073/pnas.1421926112" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Can the elongated hindwing tails of fluttering moths serve as false sonar targets to divert bat attacks?", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4947423", "author": "Lee & Moss", "datePublished": "2016", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1121/1.4947423" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Clicking caterpillars: acoustic aposematism in Antheraea polyphemus and other Bombycoidea", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.001990", "author": "Brown, Boettner & Yack", "datePublished": "2007", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Experimental Biology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1242/jeb.001990" }, { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Sex Attractant Pheromone of the Luna Moth, Actias luna (Linnaeus)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0751-6", "author": "Millar et al.", "datePublished": "2016", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "Journal of Chemical Ecology" }, "identifier": "doi:10.1007/s10886-016-0751-6" }, { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "Actias luna (luna moth)", "url": "https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Actias_luna/", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan" } } ], "about": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "Luna Moth", "scientificName": "Actias luna", "description": "Spinning hindwing tails that gave tailed moths a survival advantage of about 47% over tailless ones against big brown bats" } }, { "@type": "FAQPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/luna-moth/#faq", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Why do luna moths turn up at porch lights?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Adults are strongly drawn to light, especially ultraviolet wavelengths. A University of Florida fact sheet reports some concern that light pollution, particularly mercury vapor street lights, may deter luna moths and other silk moths from mating in cities.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Luna Moth, Actias (=Tropaea) luna (Linneaus) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Saturniinae)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in737-2007", "author": "Hall", "datePublished": "2007", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "EDIS, University of Florida" }, "identifier": "doi:10.32473/edis-in737-2007" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How many broods does a luna moth have a year?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It depends on where the moth lives. Northern populations from Michigan up have one generation, the Ohio Valley has two, and the south has three. In Louisiana and Florida, adults can be found in every month of the year.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Luna Moth, Actias (=Tropaea) luna (Linneaus) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Saturniinae)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in737-2007", "author": "Hall", "datePublished": "2007", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "EDIS, University of Florida" }, "identifier": "doi:10.32473/edis-in737-2007" } } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Where do luna moth cocoons end up?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The cocoon is spun among the leaves but is not anchored to a twig. It falls to the ground in autumn as the leaves fall, and cocoons are not commonly seen.", "citation": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "Luna Moth, Actias (=Tropaea) luna (Linneaus) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Saturniinae)", "url": "https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-in737-2007", "author": "Hall", "datePublished": "2007", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Periodical", "name": "EDIS, University of Florida" }, "identifier": "doi:10.32473/edis-in737-2007" } } } ] }, { "@type": "MusicRecording", "name": "Java", "byArtist": { "@type": "MusicGroup", "name": "Augustus Pablo" }, "genre": "Roots Reggae & Heavy Dub", "url": "https://open.spotify.com/track/3AU4R9CsFoUa9OlCvAFyFI" } ] } ```