luna moth

American  

Or Luna moth

noun

1. a large, pale-green, American moth, Actias luna, having purple-brown markings, lunate spots, and long tails.

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luna moth British  

noun

1. a large American saturniid moth, Tropaea (or Actias ) luna, having light green wings with a yellow crescent-shaped marking on each forewing

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Etymology

Origin of luna moth

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Example Sentences

Her videos are likewise full of morphing and empathic imagery, like a luna moth hatching from a ponytail.

From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2023

The Sea Snail is laughably mechanical, and the luna moth, which propels Harrison home to Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, looks like a five-and-ten windup toy left over from someone's Christmas stocking.

From Time Magazine Archive

My favorite is the luna moth, huge and pale green, with crescents on the wings.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

In one is a World War Two airplane, in the style of a cigarette card; in the other is a large pale-green luna moth.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

All this time, behind and above me, concealed by a vase fern, reposed that lovely creature of the twilight, the luna moth, just out of her chrysalis, drying and inflating her wings.

From Under the Maples by Burroughs, John