Majestic Moths 3

Luna means moon, and the wings of a luna moth have spots resembling the moon. To me, the pale green of the wings resembles moonlight. If I were to choose a moth that is most likely to inspire spiritual inquiry, I would select the luna.

Male Luna Moth That I Photographed in 2010

Its scientific name is Actias luna, and, like the polyphemus and io moths, it is a member of the Saturniidae family. I find the luna’s graceful shape and its rich yet delicate colors so compelling that I have considered the moth a work of the highest art ever since I watched my first luna emerge from a cocoon I had found beneath a walnut tree on the farm to which my family had moved in 1968. That moth was oversized. While most have wingspans up to four and a half inches, the luna that I discovered had a wingspan in excess of five inches.

Another Male Luna Moth, Which I Photographed in 2016

While in high school, I read almost every fictional work that Gene Stratton–Porter (1863–1924) published. (I have since read them all.) I so thoroughly enjoyed her nonfictional Moths of the Limberlost that one of the best Christmas presents I ever received was a mint-condition copy that my brother later gave me. To this day, I treasure that gift! I first encountered the book in the Lafayette (Indiana) Public Library, which was housed in a temple-like Greek Revival building across the street from the home where my brother and I took piano lessons. (Today, the grand edifice is the Wells Community Cultural Center, home of the Tippecanoe Arts Federation.) While my brother had his lesson, I sat in a window of the library and carefully read every word of Stratton–Porter’s book about the hauntingly lovely moths of her beloved swamp, known as the Limberlost. Anyone who has not read Stratton–Porter’s fictional work A Girl of the Limberlost (1909) and who appreciates American novels from the early years of the former century can take my word for it that the novel is well worth reading! Moths figure prominently throughout A Girl of the Limberlost.

A Cocoon, Possibly That of a Luna Moth, in My Yard

For many years, I have felt so inspired by Stratton–Porter’s books that, on several occasions, I have attempted to write a novel featuring the luna moth. Each time that I have begun, I have gone no farther than a few chapters before realizing that I have drifted into sentimentality. Something about the beauty of the moth diverts me from my craft and my writing becomes flawed. I wish I could commemorate the luna moth in a contemporary novel, but it probably is more than sufficient that Stratton–Porter already celebrated the luna and other moths in a novel that has stood the test of time.