Location Taken: Moose Brook State Park, New Hampshire
Time Taken: July 2012
For some reason, I’m always extra excited to see a luna moth. They’re somehow extra special to me, beyond just the joy of recognizing a wild species.
I blame video games.
No, really, it’s probably the video games. I’ve played a few that had some sort of bug collecting subquest, and they pretty much always had a luna moth. And it was pretty much always one of the extra rare bugs, or tough to catch, or something.
I suspect it’s due to the combination of cool name and unusual appearance that makes them a favorite of video game designers. That and it’s one they can make only show up at night with no one complaining one bit, so they can add a time-based element to the collecting minigame. It’s always irritating to spot a luna moth in the distance only to have the sun rise before you actually reach it in the game. They always vanish as soon as it swaps to day, even if you’re ten inches away from them and about to pounce.
So I guess seeing this one out in the daylight helps balance out all those lost bugs of my past. Or something.
