We marveled at the intricate colors of her eyespots, white abdomen, and the soft purple color bordering the leading edge of her front wings. The four of us turned our attention to the female lying quietly on the ground, wings outspread to perfection. Finally a slight unintentional movement of my hand against the twig and the female dropped to the ground while the male fluttered upward and away in his spectacular slow loping flight. The moths were apparently quite oblivious to my picture taking. It took extremely sharp eyes to locate this welcome find. The delicate light green of their wings along with the extended tips hanging downward blended beautifully with the similarly colored Beech leaves. The male could easily be distinguished from the female by the greater width of his antennae. There, bodies united in mating posture, was a pair of Luna Moths. Barbara made an exciting discovery on the undersides of some American Beech leaves of a two-foot-tall sapling. I’ll always remember hiking in our woods years back with Charlotte and friends Ray and Barbara on Flag Day, Charlotte’s birthday. Every sighting of this lovely pale jade-green creature is just as wonderful as the last. If we’re especially lucky one of the nighttime visitors will be a Luna Moth. Occasionally our front door outside light has been accidentally left on during the night, often resulting in a wonderful array of moths clinging to the screen on the door, the siding of our home or on the sidewalk. Do you see the elephants facing each other? A male Luna Moth with his wings extended clings to a door screen.
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