Paul Christiansen
A luna moth, photographed at the Louisiana Arboretum.
There’s a mystique about the Luna Moth (Actias luna) that stems first from its beauty, but second from its rarity. It is not actually a rare creature to exist (each female lays up to 400 eggs), but they are rarely seen—mysterious in their preference for night flight, and for the brevity of their existence. After six weeks as a caterpillar and three as a pupae, the moth at its most magnificent is a creature whose days are numbered; it doesn’t even eat. To encounter one in the wild is to align perfectly with this ephemeral life cycle among the the billions of life cycles, to be in the exact right place at the right time. Such luck graced our contributor Paul Christiansen on a recent visit to the Louisiana State Arboretum.
In her edition of “Our Sustainable Garden” this month, writer Jess Cole describes the benefits and wonder of “moon gardening”—creating environments for nocturnal pollinators such as the Luna Moth. The thing about humans and nature is that it’s not all left up to chance. With care, we can, in fact, cultivate environments for the better. We can draw the moth, briefly, to us.
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