Celebrations will take place in all 50 US states and 37 other countries from July 20 to July 28.
For Tel Aviv native Liti Haramaty, moths – in their multitude of shapes and colors – are so much more than the dreaded creatures that inhabit rice sacks and nibble holes through a favorite shirt.
“You show [people] a picture of a beautiful moth,” she said. “They say, it’s a butterfly – you say, it’s not.”
Haramaty met with The Jerusalem Post earlier in the month at the Butterfly Park in East Brunswick, New Jersey, to discuss the second annual National Moth Week, a string of evenings celebrating the moth throughout the United States and across the world, from July 20 to 28.
After hosting a series of moth viewing nights in East Brunswick since 2005, Haramaty and co-founder of National Moth Week, David Moskowitz decided that they would take the moths to a national, and even international level, for the summer of 2012.
Despite the fact that butterflies typically receive more fanfare, there are actually about 10 to 15 times more species of moths than butterflies, with appearances ranging from vibrantly colorful to camouflage, according to the co-founders.
“I say ‘mothing’ is the new birding,” Haramaty said.