Luna Moth Male

Habitat:

My daughter spotted it on the wall of a second story breezeway.

Notes:

From Wikipedia: Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, luna moths are considered common. 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. As with all Saturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths. They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week.