Luna Moth

Recently I found this little fellow parked near the entrance to my tack room.  I say little loosely.  He was NOT little.

That's my hand.  The space he fits in measures just about 4 inches.  He was a good size.  I did a little digging and found out this is a Luna Moth.

Here's what I found...courtesy of Wikipedia...love me some Wikipedia.  Seems I am pretty lucky to have spotted this fine fellow...and I am sad to see that he is no longer with us.  Funny how things work out sometimes.  Pretty neat info here...read on!

Adults eclose, or emerge from their cocoons in the morning. Their wings are very small when they first emerge and they must enlarge them by pumping bodily fluids through them. During this time, their wings will be soft and they must climb somewhere safe to wait for their wings to harden before they can fly away. This process takes about 2 hours to complete. The Luna Moth typically has a wingspan of 8–11.5 cm (3.1–4.5 in)^[4], rarely exceeding 17.78 cm (7.00 in)^[5] with long, tapering hindwings, which have eyespots on them in order to confuse potential predators. Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna Moths are considered common. As with all Saturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths.^[4] They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week. They are more commonly seen at night.

Based on the climate in which they live, the Luna Moths produce differing numbers of generations. In Canada and northern regions, they can live up to 7 days and will produce only one generation per year. These reach adulthood from early June to early July. In the northeastern United States around New Jersey or New York, the moths produce two generations each year. The first of these appear in April and May, and the second group can be seen approximately nine to eleven weeks later. In the southern United States, there can be as many as three generations. These are spaced every eight to ten weeks beginning in March.