Project Noah celebrated National Moth Week in 2014 by promoting users to contribute to the official National Moth Week mission, Moths of the World. Over the course of National Moth Week, users from 34 countries documented 2197 moths in the form of spottings, up from 1347 spottings in 2013, and 684 the year before.
Project Noah users who submitted spottings to the Moths of the World mission during National Moth Week were awarded a virtual National Moth Week 2014 patch, visible below.
For a Google spreadsheet including the raw data, as well as continent and country totals and a list of the species observed for whole continents, please visit this link: https://goo.gl/PmgLwF
Below, you can view an interactive Google map with all spottings plotted according to their latitude-longitude coordinates.
Below are some highlights of National Moth Week 2014 from around the world. Project Noah users observed some absolutely beautiful moths, including some from the Sphingidae family—our spotlight family this year!
South America
Project Noah users in South America shared some absolutely beautiful tropical specialties, such as the Eumorpha labruscae and the Dyspteris deminutaria below. The gorgeous Eumorpha labruscae from the Sphingidae family is a wonderful segue into this year’s National Moth Week celebrations.
| Total Spotting Counts by Continent/Country | |
| South America | 12 |
| Brazil | 5 |
| Colombia | 6 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 |
Europe
Project Noah users in Europe posted from a wide array of countries, with the highest participation in United Kingdom, Spain, and Serbia. The Sphingidae family was also well-represented in Europe by the striking pink and gold Deilephila porcellus!
| Total Spotting Counts by Continent/Country | |
| Europe | 101 |
| United Kingdom | 29 |
| Spain | 22 |
| Serbia | 17 |
| Greece | 9 |
| Belgium | 5 |
| Croatia | 5 |
| Austria | 4 |
| Germany | 3 |
| Netherlands | 3 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2 |
| Italy | 2 |
Asia
I would particularly like to commend the wonderful folks at Philippine Lepidoptera, who in managing a website, several social media accounts and groups, as well as a Project Noah account and mission, contributed greatly to the surge of moths spotted in Asia, specifically the Philippines, during National Moth Week. A summary of their 2014 results can be found here. It is absolutely amazing to see a community of both amateur and professional lepidopterists blossom. As a result of their dedication, the number of moths spotted during National Moth Week from the Philippines have risen from 6 in 2012, to 17 in 2013, to a whopping 342 (exactly half of ALL moths spotted during National Moth Week in 2012) in 2014.
| Total Spotting Count by Continent/Country | |
| Asia | 555 |
| Philippines | 342 |
| Malaysia | 85 |
| Bhutan | 77 |
| Sri Lanka | 29 |
| India | 17 |
| Singapore | 2 |
| Indonesia | 1 |
| Nepal | 1 |
| Thailand | 1 |
Africa
Two of the four countries submitting spottings to Project Noah for National Moth Week in 2014 were new additions! We were excited to welcome their participation. South Africa was the highest performing country in the continent, despite the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere.
| Total Spotting Counts by Continent/Country | |
| Africa | 24 |
| South Africa | 15 |
| Uganda | 6 |
| Mauritius | 2 |
| Nigeria | 1 |
Australia
Australia also saw some beautiful moths, such as the Argina astraea seen below. Much like Africa, the continent saw relatively high participation considering the winter season!
| Total Spotting Counts by Continent/Country | |
| Australia (continent) | 26 |
| Australia (country) | 25 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
North America
North America saw the highest participation, with users from the United States of America submitting 1386 spottings—39 more than ALL spottings submitted during 2013!
| Total Spotting Counts by Continent/Country | |
| North America | 1480 |
| United States of America | 1386 |
| Mexico | 44 |
| Canada | 34 |
| Costa Rica | 15 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 |
| Countries New to Project Noah National Moth Week in 2014 |
| Mauritius |
| Nepal |
| Puerto Rico |
| Serbia |
| Singapore |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
| Uganda |
We thoroughly enjoyed all of the Project Noah spottings from every country for National Moth Week 2014, and we hope to see even more countries participating this year, as well as a surge in participation for countries who have previously celebrated with us. Our next milestone goal is 3,000 spottings—a goal we can perhaps attain this year!
Celebrate National Moth Week by contributing to one of our many worldwide, regional, or country-based organizations. Click on the leaf below to visit and learn more about Project Noah.
A reminder: National Moth Week 2015 is just around the corner! Registration is available here.
Project Noah is a citizen science project mobilizing new generations of nature explorers and helping people around the world appreciate their local wildlife. The ‘Noah’ in Project Noah stands for networked organisms and habitats. Project Noah aims to harness the power and popularity of new mobile technologies to promote wildlife awareness, collect important ecological data, and help preserve global biodiversity by contributing wildlife sightings in the form of spottings.