• Chrysopilus thoracicus

• It is 8 to 15 millimeters

• It has gold thorax, white chevrons on the abdomen, and smoky, patterned wings

• It has highly reflective golden hairs covering the top of the thorax

• Its most distinctive feature is the patch of brilliant gold hair positioned on the upper thorax.

• They can be found in low vegetation in deciduous woodlands

• Golden-backed Snipe flies are predators on aphids and other small insects.

• They are diurnal.

• Males will generally have larger, more pronounced eyes than females.

Contributed by Jason Podbielski, PVHS Zoology 2022

• Scientific name: Actias luna

• Its around 8–11.5 cm but can grow up to 17.78 cm

• The luna moth has green wings with eye spots on all of its wings

• Each eyespot can have arcs of black, blue, red, yellow, green or white and the eyespots are thought to confuse potential predators

• One of its distinctive features are its long back wings that they move to confuse any predators.

• Luna Moths are mainly found in North American forests but have been found in the southern United States

• The adult Luna moth doesn't eat anything, when they emerge from there cocoon, they don't have a mouth or digestive system

• The Luna Moth Larva does eat, they eat leaves from walnut, hickory, sweet gum, and paper birch trees

• Luna Moths are nocturnal

• The Luna Moth predators are owls, bats, bald-face hornets, parasitic wasps, and fiery searcher ground beetles, spiders, toads

• One of the Luna Moths defenses are twirling their wing tips to confuse predators and the Luna Moth Caterpillar will rear up its front and make a loud clicking noise

Contributed by Ruthie Engle, PVHS Zoology 2022