The Luna Moth

I left my coffee cup on the kitchen counter, still steaming, and rushed to the familiar branch. I scanned the leaves with my eyes, but he wasn’t there. The spot where my husband and I had carefully placed a winged creature the day before was vacant — like the empty tomb of Jesus. Happiness and sadness washed over me, all at once.

Just the afternoon before, what had started as a simple lunch on the front porch had turned into frontrow seats to one of the greatest shows on earth. I’d been settling into my favorite rocking chair when movement in a spindly loropetalum bush caught my eye. A peculiar little creature that looked like a plump caterpillar was attempting to climb the twisted branches, only to tumble down again and again.

“I know how you feel — falling down, getting up, falling down, get- continued from page

ting up,” I whispered to the little guy as I watched. “You’ll get there.”

Then I spotted a big broad-headed skink with its distinctive red head stalking the fat caterpillar.

“Not on my watch,” I said, springing into action, shooing away the predator not once, but twice. That’s when the magic really began.

Right before my eyes, the tiny caterpillar was transforming. His wings, initially small and out of scale to his body, a soft gold, were expanding and shifting to the most beautiful pale green I’d ever seen. His bulbous body was slowly contracting as those magnificent wings continued to unfurl. I called for my husband, Gene, to come outside.

Together, we watched in wonder as nature worked her ancient spell. This wasn’t just any ordinary caterpillar — this was a luna moth in the final stages of its remarkable metamorphosis.

The skink lurked on a nearby stone, watching and waiting. Gene and I decided our struggling friend needed a safer place to complete his transformation — far, far away from that ugly old skink. Using a twig, we carefully relocated him to a hickory tree beside our house, nestling him among leaves that perfectly matched his emerging green wings. Camouflaged, we left him there to finish becoming what he was meant to be.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, we both took breaks from work and walked outside to check on him. Each time, we marveled at the subtle changes — the wings growing more defined, the green deepening to an ethereal pale shade that gives luna moths their otherworldly beauty.

What we had witnessed was the final stage of a journey that began months earlier when a female luna moth laid her eggs on the underside of a leaf. Our friend had already lived through being a tiny caterpillar, munching on leaves and molting several times over three or four weeks. He’d spun himself a luxurious silk cocoon and spent two to three weeks in the mysterious pupa stage, completely reconstructing himself from the inside out.

Now, as an adult luna moth, he was one of nature’s most beautiful creations. Those pale green wings spanned nearly five inches, decorated with distinctive eyespots and a delicate tail designed to confuse predators. He had no mouth and would never eat again — his entire adult existence would be fueled by energy stored from his caterpillar days.

Staring at that empty branch the next morning, I remembered reading that our luna moths live only about a week. His sole purpose now was to find a mate and ensure the next generation. Somewhere in the darkness of the previous night, he had taken flight on those beautiful wings we’d watched develop, dancing through the darkness, drawn by pheromones and the ancient call to continue his species’ story.

Growth is a process, and sometimes it’s hard. But watching that determined little creature embrace his transformation, never giving up despite his struggles, reminded me that the most beautiful changes in life often come after periods of difficulty and persistence. Like that luna moth, we must sometimes fall down and start over a few times, trusting that we’re becoming exactly who we’re meant to be.

Moving the Luna Moth

Wings shifted to green

What’s that creature?

The Luna Moth