Photo Credit Sarah Reimer
Moth Week 2025 | July 19-27
National Moth Week
National Moth Week (NMW) is held annually worldwide during the last full week of July and celebrates the beauty, life cycles, and habitats of moths around the world.
What is Mothing?
Mothing is a hobby for nature enthusiasts who use light or bait to attract moths to a location for observation and data collection.
National Moth Week is an annual, national event that encourages communities to host a Mothing event in their area during a specific week.
Moth Week offers everyone, everywhere the opportunity to become a Citizen Scientist by submitting photos of moths to any of our participating partners for identification and data submission.
Interested in trying Mothing?
National Moth Week is a Fully Volunteer-Based Project
Your support makes a real difference.
National Moth Week is a project of the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission, a 501c3 nonprofit organization registered in New Jersey. Donations are tax-deductible in the US.
Click the button below to make a donation and join us in our mission to document the habits, lifestyles, and beauty of moths around the world.
Show Your Support!
We offer certified Moth Week merch every year!
Pick from hats, t-shirts, hoodies, and more. Every purchase directly helps the Moth Week organization.
Our Data Submission Partners
Check Out Our Blog
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Guest post By Leora Radetsky – Senior Lighting Scientist and LUNA Program Director for the DesignLights Studies documenting declines in wildlife species aren’t new or unique, but some findings
How a Chance Encounter With a Moth Turned Into an Amazing Discovery
On a sunny Saturday morning in October 2022, Shlomi Levi and his family were going for a hike. As they were leaving their apartment building in Ness Ziona, south of
National Moth Week Welcomes Ali Akbar Rafi as Country Coordinator for Bangladesh
National Moth Week is pleased to welcome Ali Akbar Rafi as the new country coordinator for Bangladesh. Ali is currently studying for his bachelor’s degree in zoology at Jagannath University
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.