The IndianMoths group on IBP is the Indian partner for Moth Week and it has been hosting the event for the past 4 years. The National Moth Week 2017 was held between 22-30th July. The campaign witnessed good participation with over 350 observations being uploaded from across the country. Read a brief summary of the participation during the event on the IBP blog.
Atlas moth (Attacus atlas) (Image credits: Vipin Baliga)
In spite of the rain the moths and the people showed up between 5AM and 9 AM for our Meet a Moth For Breakfast event. We had UV party lights, porch lights and even a bug zapper that had the zapping wires disconnected so people saw that moth watching does not have to be a high tech enterprise. The moths were a big hit!
In honor of this year’s focus on tiger moths, our partner, citizen science website Project Noah will be featuring a fun fact about the tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) during National Moth Week.
From Project Noah:
The Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) is a tiger moth very common in North America. Subjected to a temperate climate, the caterpillars, known as banded woolly bears, overwinter as caterpillars before turning into a pupa in the spring, the stage of development right before coming a moths. Since the caterpillars are exposed to relatively harsh temperatures in the winter, this species has become somewhat tolerant to short-term freezing periods in which the entire caterpillar is frozen and it thaws out. Longer-term freezing periods however can be harmful.
This moth is also the subject of some folklore in which it is said that the amount of the brown on the band determines the length of the forthcoming winter. This however, is just folklore and not scientifically based.
Banded Woolly Bear (Pyrrharctia isabella), spotted by user Carol Snow Milne.
National Moth Week is from July 22-30. Are you participating? Please register a public or private event here: http://nationalmothweek.org/register-a-nmw-event-2017/, especially if your country or region isn’t on the map yet!
Don’t forget to submit photos of moths you spot here!
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8841449
Read more about the Isabella tiger moth’s ability to tolerate freezing as a larva here.
In honor of this year’s focus on tiger moths, our partner, citizen science website Project Noah will be featuring a fun fact about the tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) during National Moth Week.
From Project Noah:
Some tiger moths have glands that emit toxins when threatened. Many of these tiger moths are known in Australia as “frothers” for the bubbly toxins that come out of their thorax.
Walker’s Frother (Amerila rubripes) spotted by user Felix Fleck on Project Noah.
National Moth Week is from July 22-30. Are you participating? Please register a public or private event here: http://nationalmothweek.org/register-a-nmw-event-2017/, especially if your country or region isn’t on the map yet!
Don’t forget to submit photos of moths you spot here!
In honor of this year’s focus on tiger moths, our partner, citizen science website Project Noah will be featuring a fun fact about the tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) during National Moth Week.
From Project Noah:
Some tiger moths are excellent mimics of the order Hymenoptera, which includes ants, bees, sawflies, and wasps. They even have evolved a narrower abdomen and lost scales on some wings to mimic the narrow waist present in many hymenopterans, resulting in excellent wasp and ant mimics.
Wasp Moth (Myrmecopsis strigosa), spotted by user Tom15 on Project Noah.
National Moth Week is from July 22-30. Are you participating? Please register a public or private event here: http://nationalmothweek.org/register-a-nmw-event-2017/, especially if your country or region isn’t on the map yet!
Don’t forget to submit photos of moths you spot here!
In honor of this year’s focus on tiger moths, our partner, citizen science website Project Noah will be featuring a fun fact about the tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) during National Moth Week.
From Project Noah:
Yesterday we discussed the ability of some tiger moth species to jam bat sonar. Some tiger moths are also very chemically defended. Some moths may sequester toxic plant chemicals, while others break down toxic chemicals found in their host plants and create new toxins for defense. Many organisms that are chemically defended also have aposematic, or warning coloration to indicate to predators that they are chemically defended.
The Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobeae) is a moth which is chemically defended and aposematically colored, meaning it has warning coloration. It is native to Europe but was introduced in Oregon where is has been a successful biocontrol agent in the management of the invasive tansy ragwort.
Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobeae), spotted by user Brian38 on Project Noah.
National Moth Week is from July 22-30. Are you participating? Please register a public or private event here: http://nationalmothweek.org/register-a-nmw-event-2017/, especially if your country or region isn’t on the map yet!
Don’t forget to submit photos of moths you spot here!
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8841449
Read more about efforts to use the Cinnabar moth to control the invasive tansy ragwort here.
Original post was published on the Celery Farm and Beyond site, on July 23, 2017.
Can’t say that the weather cooperated, but folks had a thoroughly enjoyable Moth Night with The Nature Conservancy at the Kay Center in Chester last night.
Because of a light but unpredictable rain, we moved the old Mothra movie, the S’Mores and the popcorn inside, and then set up the Mercury vapor light and a sheet under an overhang outside.
We did not expect much moth activity. All I can is, Boy, were we surprised.
Happy National Moth Week 2017!
In honor of this year’s focus on tiger moths, our partner, citizen science website Project Noah, will be featuring a fun fact about the tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) during National Moth Week.
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