Moth Week 2025 | July 19-27
National Moth Week
Communities around the globe come together during National Moth Week to celebrate the beauty, diversity, and ecological importance of moths. Join participants of all ages to contribute valuable data that helps scientists better understand these fascinating insects.
What is Mothing and National Moth Week?
Mothing is the practice of attracting, observing, photographing, identifying, and documenting moths for enjoyment or scientific study.
National Moth Week is an annual, global event that invites people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the mothing hobby, by sharing photos of moths they find for citizen science.
These contributions help researchers study moth diversity, distribution, and ecology worldwide!
National Moth Week is 100% Volunteer-Driven
Your support makes a difference! Help us continue to spread awareness and document the beauty, habits, and diversity of moths worldwide—donate today!
National Moth Week is a project of the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Show Your Support!
We offer certified Moth Week merch every year and every purchase directly helps the Moth Week organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mid-summer is a good time for finding moths in most of the northern hemisphere. We decided to keep the time period consistent from year to year to help organizations plan their activities in advance. We include the weekends at the beginning and end of NMW to facilitate event planning. Observing months every year during the same period optimizes data collection and analysis over time.
It depends on what kind of mothing event you are planning. You can have a private Moth Week event in your backyard, with just family and friends, or you can host a public event with your local nature center. The most important thing you should do is register your event! Not only you will be taking part of a global citizen science project, but you will also be entered to win prizes, such as books and posters!
All you need to attract moths is an outdoor light and a surface for the moths to rest on! The light on your porch can be your mothing setup, or you can buy specific lights to attract them. Check out our Mothing 101 page for more info.
Once you’ve found a moth you can take a photo with your phone and submit the photo to any of our partner apps or websites. They can help identify and log the submission automatically. Check out our Partners Page for more information on how to download and use their apps and websites.