Wings are light green, marked with transparent spots and a pink-purple or yellow forewing margins and hind wings bearing long twisted tails. Antennae are feathery, with antennae of males being more feathery than those of females. This species is occasionally a pest of range grasses and some cultivated plants in west and north Texas. Caterpillars develop through several molts before spinning a papery cocoon among dead leaves that usually falls to the ground. There are two generations per year.
Caterpillars have chewing mouthparts.
Adults have siphoning mouths. Caterpillars feed on leaves of walnut, hickory, sweetgum, maple, oak, persimmon, willow and other trees. Adults can be attracted to lights, or males can be attracted to an imprisoned female. All colors will fade in preserved specimens when exposed to light. Mated female luna moths can be caged over a food plant on which she will deposit eggs.