I believe it's a Luna Moth; I've only seen one in my life, in upstate NY. Gorgeous!!!

looks like a miniature kite to me (the flying kind). I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like ti.

Penny

Definitely a Luna Moth. Judging by the big feathery antennas, I think it's a male. He uses those to smell out the pheremones of the females, or so I've been told.

I've also only seen one once in my life, many years ago, flying around a light in a parking lot, of all places. They are so gorgeous! You are lucky to have seen one.

Yes , I just looked it up and it appears luna moth is correct. Although the pic at the site has two dots on its hind wings, other than that its a carbon copy.

Steve, everyone is right it is a Luna Moth and I have seen one in my life. I think they are absolutely beautiful, don't you? Just a "this is why I love nature" kind of thing.

Steve, your moth is holding his forewing over the hindwing, hiding the pair of spots on the hindwing. Both pairs of spots are showing on your second picture.

Gardenweb won't let me link to a picture and keeps rejecting my message. This is the address of the picture:

http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/invertebrate/moth/luna_moth/index.html

Perhaps most of you know that sighting a luna moth is considered rare due to the fact that they are active at night and have a very short life. I saw one once near our sweet gum trees at dusk and I also found the remains of one recently on a very windy day.

Penny--dont feel bad a lot of people have never seen one of these-- I was walking back from my mailbox when I saw it and stopped dead in my tracks

Tracey and RThummer -- yes this thing is absolutely beautifull

down2earth -- of course all moths are active at night because they are attracted to lights, but you most likely are correct on the short life otherwise more people would have seen them.

Lunas don't feed as adults either. They have no mouth. Their sole purpose is to procreate, look beautiful, and that's it. They are indeed gorgeous. It is the silk moth family. There are a lot of beautiful silk moths.

I get lots of sphinx moths, like the hummingbird clearwings - many people mistake them for hummingbirds because they hover at flowers just like the hummers do. These moths do nectar, and if you provide them with a white garden with moonflower, nicotiana, daturas, brugmansias, things like that, you may very well witness one feeding at dawn and early evening. They like the deep-throated flowers because they have a very long probiscus to reach the nectar in the flowers.

Susan