Art: Guess what I saw the other night.

Steve: What?

Spiraling around the street light out front was my first Luna Moth of the season.

Steve: I love those!

Art: It was so obvious what is was because it had those long tails.

Steve: And they stay in good shape for how long?

Art: Not long!

(laughs) Life is hard on those tails!

(laughs) Steve: I remember my first Luna Moth.

I saw it at a miniature golf course, With all of those lights.

Art: We've had several Luna Moths in our neighborhood over the years, and I think the caterpillars are feeding on sweet gum.

But they feed on other things to You'll find them on walnuts and sumacs, hickories.

I was doing up a beetle survey and I put up a light I got a baker's dozen Luna Moths and they were all freshly emerged.

They were just brilliant green sort of purplish edges on their wings.

Something that's interesting about them, the moths that are emerging in spring overwinter as cacoons Come out, mate, you get a new crop of caterpillars They pupate in cacoons that are silk and usually incorporate a leaf, and they're down in the soil.

at the base of the food plant.

They'll emerge in summer and instead of having those purplish wing margins they're sort of yellow.

and they're not as bright green as the spring generation they're more yellow in color So you can tell which brood they belong.

whether it;s the spring brood or the summer brood.

The males are very distinctive.

because they have very large feathery antennae whereas the females, they're not so well developed By the time you will see a female, they've already mated.

And if you feel like rearing the caterpillars You can capture a female and gently put her into a small paper bag And she will lay eggs.

Caterpillars will hatch in about a week.

and if you provide them with branches of sweetgum leaves you can watch them develop over about a month, month and a half.

Steve: And then they'll pupate?

Art: And then they'll pupate.

Then you need to supply them with some soil where they can bury themselves in some leaf litter.

You don't want it wet, but you don't want it too dry either.

When they emerge you release them later that summer.

Steve: So you could have a green thumb.

Art: You could!

(laughs) Of a different sort.