Luna moth color is blue-green in the north and for the over-wintering generation in the central and southern states; second and third generation wing color has more of a yellow-green tint. Described and named "Phalena plumata caudata" by James Petiver in 1700, this was the first North American saturniid to be reported in the insect literature. The initial Latin name, which roughly translates to "brilliant, feather tail", was replaced when Carl Linnaeus described the species in 1758 in the tenth edition of Systema Naturae, and renamed it "Phalaena luna", later "Actias luna", with "luna" derived from Luna, the Roman moon goddess. The
Africa (goddess) Ostenberg, if Houghtalin is right, then the personification of Africa in the Roman imagination may have arrived through Pompey. Africa (goddess) Goddess Africa, also known as Dea Africa, was the personification of Africa by the Romans in the early centuries of the common era. She was one of the fertility and abundance deities to some. Her iconography typically included an elephant-mask head dress, curly hair, broad nose, a cornucopia, and a lion. She is portrayed on some coins, carved stones, and mosaics in Roman Africa. A mozaic of her is found in the El Djem museum of Tunisia. A sanctuary