Luna Moth T-Shirt
Luna Moth T-Shirt
Size & fit
Comfort Colors 1717. Relaxed fit, true to size; size down for a closer fit.
| Size | Chest width (in) | Length (in) |
|---|---|---|
| S | 18 ¼ | 26 ⅝ |
| M | 20 ¼ | 28 |
| L | 22 | 29 ⅜ |
| XL | 24 | 30 ¾ |
| 2XL | 26 | 31 ⅝ |
| 3XL | 27 ¾ | 32 ½ |
| 4XL | 29 ¾ | 33 ½ |
Measured flat: chest across, 1 in below the armholes; length from the high shoulder. Compare with a T-shirt you own and like.
Each shirt is garment-dyed after it is sewn, so the colour can vary slightly from shirt to shirt.
A male, his caterpillar and cocoon on sweetgum, from the first illustrated book of American insects.
The shirt
- Comfort Colors 1717: heavyweight 100% ring-spun cotton, garment-dyed and pre-shrunk.
- The full plate on the back; a detail from it on the left chest.
- Wash cold, inside out; tumble dry low. Don't iron over the print.
Shipping & production
Each shirt is printed for you after you order. Most orders are printed and on their way within 2–5 business days; delivery time depends on the shipping method you choose at checkout. Shipping is shown at checkout before you pay.
Returns
If your shirt arrives damaged, misprinted or defective, contact us within 30 days of delivery with a photo and we'll send a replacement or a refund. Because every shirt is printed to order, we can't accept returns or exchanges for size or a change of mind, so please check the size chart above before ordering.
Plate 005
From the book
- Species
- Actias luna
- As named in the book
- Phalaena Luna. Green Swallow-tailed Emperor Moth.
- Artist
- John Abbot
- Book
- The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia, tab. XLVIII, 1797
“The food of this species is the Sweet Gum, different kinds of Walnut, and the Persimmon.”
Then and now
The adult has no working mouth and lives about a week.
Field notes
The adult never eats, and its tails fool hunting bats.
The luna moth spends nearly its whole life as something else: an egg, a green caterpillar chewing sweetgum or walnut leaves, a pupa in a papery cocoon. When the adult finally emerges, it has about a week left. Its mouthparts are vestigial, so it can't eat. It lives on what the caterpillar stored, flies by night, finds a mate, and is gone.
Abbot painted a male: note the broad, feathery antennae he uses to smell out a female. Above a sprig of sweetgum, with the caterpillar and cocoon below.
Those long tails turned out to be more than decoration. In 2015, researchers filmed bats hunting luna moths and found the moths spin their tails in flight, scattering the bat's sonar. Bats aimed at the tails in more than half their attacks and came away with a scrap of wing instead of a meal.