Moth Month at Lewis Ginter Means Lunas, African Moon Moths, Atlas Moths & More!

by Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Butterfly wrangler Jay Forehand with a Moon Moth

The African Moon Moth looks a lot like a Luna Moth.

It’s Moth Month at Lewis Ginter! I’ve always been a fan of Luna moths, because they are so beautiful, especially when you find them unexpectedly in your own yard.  But I’d never heard o f  Luna Moths’ cousin, the African Moon Moth! For Moth Month in addition to the giant Atlas Moth, we added Cecropia Moths, Rothschild Moths, Luna Moths and African Moon Moths.  Many of them are starting to emerge right now!  These guys are nocturnal, so they don’t fly around during the day — which makes them perfect subjects of photographs. Usually, we keep them in a netted area, so we can keep track of them, but this one had just emerged and was joining his friends.

Me? I felt like a kid in a candy store! Our “butterfly wrangler” Jay Forehand, was just bringing him out, and he flew to the ground and then started crawling up my shoe! Let me tell you that was the best part of my day.  I never knew it before, but being tickled by a moth is actually a bit fun!

Jay, our “butterfly wrangler, is placing the Moon Moth in its new home.

An African Moon Moth, newly emerged & perched on my shoe!