Has any one heard of this fly?

[airedale 0]

:dunno: I was surfing the web and found a weird fly. It is a Luna Moth. I don't believe it is true because they are normally so big. Has any one else seen this. IDK what the website is. Please help!

[maddog48 0]

There's Luna moths here in Arkansas that are pretty good sized. Probably about the size of a bat. :bugeyes:

 

 

Mike

[nymph chucker 0]

totally true, they are big but every bit real as they are big

[airedale 0]

Yeah! I have seen them, and they are huge. I just thought that it was too big for anything to eat. Has anyone seen one?

[CoachBob 0]

On a parallel track, some species of cicada can reach 6", about the size of a luna moth.

Fly Tyer recently had an article on cicada patterns.

[ILikeFish 0]

I was on a fishing trip early last month and was lucky enough to find one.... and lucky enough to have my camera

 

 

i have a bunch more... I took some with some close up filters from the front, very cool looking moths

[JSzymczyk 0]

Across many parts of their range, especially in the southeast, Actias luna can be one of the most common Saturniid moths (silk moths). They're not "flies". I see some impressively big ones in Florida and Alabama, but they are not even close to the size of a large Hyalophora cecropia or Eacles imperialis. The spring form in ILikeFish's pic has the awesome purple highlights, they are truly beautiful. In more southerly areas where there are several broods throughout the spring, summer, and fall, the purple becomes less and less present until in the fall forms around here, there is almost none at all. Thankfully these are common moths, and don't believe several websites which say they are "threatened" or "endangered". People just don't see them very often because they are noctournal, but if you go looking for them at the right times, in the right places, with the right gear, they aren't hard to find.