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Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects I found a ~3-inch wingspan lime green moth with raindrops on its wings resting outside a lighted door on the Dalhousie campus a couple of nights ago, after the heavy rain. I thought 'saturniid' and looked up this group on BugGuide next day but could not find a match. Fortunately I had taken a few photos of it and when I checked these, the eyespots etc gave an exact match for a luna moth, the pectinate antennae indicating a male. Both tails on the hind wings were completely gone, presumably plucked off in a bird or cat attack, and accounting for the lack of an obvious initial match on BugGuide. I had let it go again, placed on a nearby plant, and when I checked a bit later it had gone. The loss of its tails obviously did not totally incapacitate its flight. Perhaps like that of the peacock, the luna's tails are even an aerodynamic hindrance in flight? Has anyone has ever looked at this in leps with tails, or more likely in New Guinea birds where some males have elaborate and apparently unwieldy tails and exotic mating displays? Can these birds fly effectively, or don't they have to do much in such dense canopy? Steve (Halifax) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quoting Elizabeth Doull <edoull@ns.sympatico.ca>: > There was a Luna Moth in Big Island yeserday (June 27, 2012). I think it is > a first there. > > Liz
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Index of Subjects