The Postal Service will release Luna Moth, its latest nonmachineable surcharge stamp, on Saturday, Aug. 16.
Nonmachineable stamps are used on irregularly sized envelopes, such as square greeting cards, invitations or announcements.
The stamp features the luna moth (Actias luna), also known as the American Moon moth.
Noted for their green coloring, the moths were named after Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon because of the moon-like eyespots on each of their four wings.
With wingspans of around 3 to 6 inches, luna moths are some of the largest moths in North America. They dwell in the hardwood trees of the eastern United States and southern Canada with a habitat range spreading as far as eastern Texas and North Dakota.
Adult luna moths live for about one week — just long enough to reproduce.
The stamp shows an image of a pale green luna moth in sharp focus. With darker edges and eyespots on all four wings, the moth has a white and yellow body with feathery brown antennae between its forewings.
Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps using an image by artist Joseph Scheer.
Scheer used a high-resolution scanner to capture multiple layers of a preserved luna moth before stitching them together.
The stamp will be available in panes of 20 at Post Offices and on usps.com.
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