National Moth Week

For the past six years, the Idalia Society (the Kansas City area chapter of the Mid-American Society of Lepidopterists) has hosted a black lighting event on the third Saturday of July at my property, Long Lips Farm in Paola, Kansas. This 27 acre rural area has multiple habitats, including a lake, woodlot, wetlands, pastures and a 2 acre certified butterfly garden. Native plants, especially lepidopteran host plants, have been welcomed and/or planted to promote a diverse population of insects. No insecticides have been used for over 30 years and “clean-up” is minimal, so the property is wonderfully alive with insects, spiders, birds, amphibians and all the other residents of a natural habitat.

 The Event

Insect-lovers are a friendly and inclusive group, so we always invite Kansas and Missouri Master Naturalists, the Kansas Native Plant Society and Master Gardeners from the two adjacent counties. We welcomed over 60 individuals with the usual Kansas summer evening temperature of 85 degrees with 85 per cent humidity and a slight breeze, pleasant for both insects and humans.

Participants began arriving at 7:00 PM with their lawn chairs and a dish to pass for the pot luck dinner.  Since the moths don’t arrive until about 9:30 PM, we relaxed with a sumptuous Midwestern feast, adult beverages and enjoyed each other and the gardens. When the Datura inoxia opened at 9:00 PM to summon the Hummingbird Moths, we set up the light traps.  Being 30 miles south of the city, there is minimal light pollution.

Datura. Photo: Lenora Larson

Lighting the Way

We always establish multiple locations with long extension cords to power different light sources including two mercury vapor lamps, a pure neon UV and black lights in order to maximize moth sightings. White sheets and my barn’s white door are the reflective surfaces. Incidentally, I turn on my lights most evenings, but since I am ‘early to bed, early to rise’ person, I leave them on all night. Most insect visitors remain on the sheet, so come dawn I can greet and study them at my leisure until they fly away the next evening.

Photo: Lenora Larson

Insect Visitors

This year’s local Facebook and personal conversations have lamented a regrettable paucity of insects, possibly because of our unusually cold wet June. Consequently, we were not surprised that our usual throngs of moths did not arrive.  Of course the always reliable Carolina Hummingbird Moth  and 5-Spotted Hawk Moth  joined us, first on the Cleome and then on the sheet. Other visitors included a Blue Dasher Damsel Fly  and many adorable Tree Frogs.  Hope springs eternal in the entomologist’s heart, so we are looking forward to our annual mothing on the first Sunday in September.  Will they come?

Carolina Hummingbird Moth. Photo: Lenora Larson

5-spotted Hawk Moth, photo: Linda Williams

Blue Dasher. Photo: Betsy Betros

Tree frog. Photo: Lenora Larson

On July 23, 2016, Midpen (Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District) volunteers hosted their third “Moth Night at Monte Bello” during National Moth Week.

Along with docents Debbi Brusco, Jack Owicki, and Sara Witt, naturalist friends Ken-ichi Ueda (of iNaturalist) and Ken Hickman set up four blacklight sheets. After an introduction, docents Jan Hintermeister and Katherine Greene took about 20 people for a short one-mile night hike from dusk to dark. In the meantime, the rest of the group waited for flying treasures to land on the sheets. The hiking group returned at 10:30 to observe what had appeared at the sheets.

The sheets were set up in the preserve parking lot. One was two-sided (two blacklights) and over the signboard at the south trailhead. The second was at the west edge of the lot with a long party blacklight, the third also west, 30’ down a trail under some oaks, two-sided with a CFL blacklight on the side facing the lot, and a white 2700k CFL then blue LED on the east side, and the fourth was 300’ down a grassland trail, with a blacklight and white light. The grassland sheet got the least number of insects, and the white CFL was too bright, leaking through the sheets and washing out the blacklight, not to mention messing up night vision. The blue LED didn’t really attract much. That site under the trees was very warm.

The first year, 2014, was the best in terms of insect/moth observations. It was warm, virga was visible in the beautiful sunset, and a surprising number of very large insects showed up—giant water bugs, ten-lined June beetle, and California Prionus. It was also fun to get a black burying beetle with phoretic mites, and a native agile ground mantis. The most surprising moth was a yellow Hesperumia fumosaria. 17 people participated this first year.

In 2015, the weather was cold and windy until 10:00, but some things did manage to show–a white-lined sphinx moth, and a ten-lined June beetle as well as some other moths, once the wind calmed down. Despite the weather, 20 people participated and most went on the hike to warm up.

This year, 2016, was also warm, t-shirt temperature all night. Unexpectedly, there was a waitlist for the event! 25 got on the waitlist, and 25 participants showed up. Some moths that were observed in the previous years were missed. This Nemoria was a first for moth week, and the Ypsolopha canariella was also seen in 2014.

Perhaps next year will show another increase in interested participants.

If you’re interested in seeing the observations that were photographed on those dates, here are the ones from 2016: http://tinyurl.com/MBNMW2016 .

Here are 2015: http://tinyurl.com/MBNMW2015 and 2014: http://tinyurl.com/MBNMW20141 .

These are mothing events being held today, July 31, 2016!

Check the map for mothing events being held around the world today.

Green events are public, Blue are private.

These are mothing events being held today, July 30, 2016!

Check the map for mothing events being held around the world today.

Green events are public, Blue are private.