The Occurence of Actias luna (L) in Louisiana
by
Vernon Antoine Brou Jr. 74320 Jack Loyd Road, Abita Springs,
Louisiana 70420,
vabrou@bellsouth.net
Ferguson 1972, discusses the luna moth, Actias luna, (Linnaeus),
in five pages of text covering most aspects of this beautiful and
well known pale green species. He reviews the validity of names
for nine forms and synonyms from Nova Scotia to Texas, and reduces
them all to a single species due to population variation and lack of
consistent and definitive distinguishable characters.
Ferguson 1972, discusses the one brood in the northern states and
two broods in middle states and three broods in southern states.In Louisiana, luna was first reported by von Reizenstein, 1863,
and [this species] appears to occur abundantly across the state based
on my records. Based on dates of capture, there appear to be five annual
broods in Louisiana, first brood peaking end of March and at 36 day
intervals. The second brood is minimally populated, as often found in
other lepidoptera species in Louisiana. Parishes in which Actias
luna have been captured to right.
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With each successive brood, the wing shape broadens and richness of
green coloration fades to a very pale light green in the last brood.
The purple border of the outer wing edges is usually evident
only in the first brood.
Southern Lepidopterists’ Newsletter
Literature cited
Ferguson, D.C. in Dominick, R. B. et al., 1972. The Moths of America
North of Mexico,
fasc. 20.2B, Bombycoidea (in part), The
Curwen Press, London, England.
von Reizenstein, L. 1863. Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of New Orleans and its vicinity. Isacc T. Hinton. New Orleans. 8 pp.
Vernon sent me a nice bar graph of emergence peaks,
representing collecting data (1757 specimens) over a period of
thirty plus years at one site. Peak flights seem to follow a bit of a
bimodal pattern, occurring around March 21-April 14
(March 25 peak)
from "overwintered" cocoons (emerging from mid February-mid April),
April 26-May 10 (May 1 peak; low peak-second brood),
June 6-June 28 (June 8 peak; third brood),
July 10-July 30 (July 10 peak; fourth brood)
and August 15-September 15 (August 15 peak;
fifth brood
with moths still flying into early October).
Moths are most
abundant mid June to mid September.
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