Editing Luna moth (section)

=== Larvae ===

Each [[instar]] &ndash; the period between molts &ndash; generally takes about 4–10 days. There are five instars before [[Cocoon (silk)|cocooning]]. At the end of each instar, a small amount of silk is placed on the major vein of a leaf and the larva undergoes [[apolysis]], then [[ecdysis]] (molting), leaving the old [[exoskeleton]] behind. Sometimes the shed exoskeleton is eaten. Newly hatched, this caterpillar constantly munches on the leaves of walnut, hickory, sweetgum, and paper birch trees. Each instar is green, though the first two instars do have some variation in which some larvae will have black underlying splotches on their [[Dorsum (biology)|dorsal]] side. The final instar grows to approximately {{convert|70|to|90|mm|abbr=on}} in length. All five instar stages possess green spines on the dorsal surface. These spines do not sting, but can still cause irritation upon contact.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Aleem |date=2024-05-21 |title=Green Caterpillars: Discover Types, Identification, and Control |url=https://gardencomposer.com/green-caterpillars/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=AI Garden Composer}}</ref> This is a tree-dwelling species. Larvae stay on the same tree where they hatched until it is time to descend to the ground to make a cocoon. When females emerge from cocoons, they fly to preferred tree species, emit pheromones, and wait there for males to find them.<ref name=Tuskes1996/><ref name=UnivFL/> Although some larvae in the family [[Saturniidae]] are known to be poisonous, those of ''A. luna'' are not. The spines, or setae, located on the thoracic and abdominal segments have no chemical component to them.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hall |first=D. W. |date=October 2019 |url=https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/moths/luna_moth.htm |title=Common name: luna moth: scientific name: ''Actias'' (=''Tropaea'') ''luna'' (Linnaeus) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Saturniinae) |publisher=Featured Creatures, University of Florida |access-date=December 6, 2021}}</ref>