---
title: "North American Luna Moth"
description: "Actias luna — Insecten en spinnen. The luna moth (Actias luna), also called the American moon moth, is a Nearctic moth in the family Saturniidae, subfamily Saturniinae, a group commonly named the giant silk moths."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/north-american-luna-moth
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# North American Luna Moth

> Actias luna — Insecten en spinnen. The luna moth (Actias luna), also called the American moon moth, is a Nearctic moth in the family Saturniidae, subfamily Saturniinae, a group commonly named the giant silk moths.

- Scientific name: *Actias luna*
- Category: `insects` (Insecten en spinnen)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos)
- iNaturalist observations: 70412
- Wikidata: [Q135289](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q135289)
- iNaturalist taxon: [47916](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47916)

## Names

- en: North American Luna Moth
- es: Polilla Luna Norteamericana
- fr: Papillon lune

## Countries with the most observations

US (59521), CA (8066)

## Summary

The luna moth (Actias luna), also called the American moon moth, is a Nearctic moth in the family Saturniidae, subfamily Saturniinae, a group commonly named the giant silk moths.
The moth has lime-green wings and a white body. Its caterpillars are also green. Its typical wingspan is roughly 114 mm (4.5 in), but wingspans can exceed 178 mm (7.0 in), ranking the species as one of the larger moths found in North America.
Across Canada, it has one generation per year, with the winged adults appearing in late May or early June, whereas farther south it will have two or even three generations per year, the first appearance…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_moth

## Photo

![North American Luna Moth](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/north-american-luna-moth/medium.jpg)

Photo: Wendy A · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202179929

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/north-american-luna-moth?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).