SCOTT SHALAWAY Even insects have beauty

Kim Jung-Hyen is our 16-year old exchange student from South Korea. At her request, we call her Andrea because she feels it's easier for her new friends and family to remember.
Andrea's move to our isolated ridge in West Virginia had to be a classic case of culture shock. She comes from Seoul, a city of millions; we can't even see the house of our nearest neighbor. But Andrea has adjusted well to country living and especially enjoys the wildlife. She still squeals when she sees a deer, and she marvels at the abundance of squirrels, rabbits, box turtles, turkeys, and other critters she sees every day.
Insects, on the other hand, are another matter. During the winter when lady beetles gathered around her bedroom window, she shrieked in dismay. More recently, when I showed her a container of live bird food -- mealworms -- she almost fainted.
Sent into tizzy
But last week when a Luna moth appeared on the screen door one morning, I thought I'd found an insect even Andrea could love. I was wrong. It, too, sent her into a tizzy. But the Luna moth is as beautiful as an insect can be, so this column's for Andrea, to convince her that beauty doesn't require a backbone.
Luna moths are spectacular members of the giant silkworm family. Their large size and lime green color make them easy to recognize. Their wing span can measure up to 4 inches and their hind wings extend into long sweeping tails. Though Lunas can be accurately described as "swallow-tailed," they are unrelated to swallowtail butterflies.
The color on the edges of the wings varies seasonally. Lunas from spring broods, those emerging now, have pink, reddish brown, or purplish margins. The wings of Lunas that emerge in midsummer are trimmed in yellow. And each wing carries a transparent spot accented with a dark border.
Nearly 140,000 of the world's 150,000 species of lepidopterans are moths. Most moths are drab and nocturnal, and many are best known as pests. Butterflies, on the other hand, are more colorful and active during the day. It's no wonder butterflies win most popularity comparisons.
But some moths rise above their shortcomings to win our hearts. Survey the area beneath a porch light each morning, and you're sure to meet some striking nocturnal visitors. The Luna, though, is my favorite. Its color is sublime, and its size is magnificent. She is the queen of the night, and when we're lucky, she lingers on the porch at dawn. Graceful and elegant may seem odd adjectives to describe a moth, but even they may be inadequate. The Luna moth is the first lady of the insect world, and she holds her own even when compared with warblers and real swallowtails.
Chemical receptors
Lunas also have large feathery antenna -- chemical receptors, capable of detecting the scent of a potential mate. This is how males and females, which are active only at night, find each other. Female silkworm moths can dispense just a billionth of a gram of pheromone per hour and attract males from as far as a mile away. Moth olfaction makes mammalian noses seem downright primitive.
After mating, female Lunas lay clusters of eggs on the twigs of trees whose leaves its caterpillars devour -- hickory, walnut, cherry, beech, pecan, persimmon, sweet gum, maple, and willow. Mature Luna caterpillars can sometimes be found by searching leaves above piles of frass (fecal pellets) that accumulate beneath the hungry, ever-eating larvae. The thick, green, fleshy body can approach 3 inches in length. A yellow stripe runs along both sides of the abdomen, and many small orange knobs called tubercles decorate the entire body.
Cocoon hidden
When about 6 weeks old, Luna caterpillars pull together several leaves with silk and weave a cocoon. After the autumnal leaf fall, the cocoon lies hidden amid the leaf litter on the forest floor until spring. In late April or May, metamorphosis is complete, and a new Luna moth emerges. Males then wait for just the faintest whiff of a female's irresistible scent.
So you see Andrea, insects aren't just "creepy crawlies." Many are as fascinating and beautiful as the deer, turtles and birds you enjoy.
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