When Gylma Norman returned to her native Costa Rica after living in California for many years, she took up a new hobby – mothing. It wasn’t long before she was contributing her moth photos to Project Noah, one of National Moth Week’s partner organizations.
“They were so beautiful and so many beautiful colors,” she says of Costa Rica’s moths.
In 2014, Gylma became the first person in her country to participate in National Moth Week. Her enthusiasm continues to grow, and this year, she
became the country coordinator for Costa Rica. She says she is determined to share her enthusiasm with her fellow Costa Ricans.
“I have advertised in all my clubs all about nature, insects and animals, and have talked to lots of people about our National Moth Week,” she said.
Gylma said her location near the town of San Ramon, adjacent to Tanaca National Park, with a pasture and garden with native trees, plants and flowers, is ideal for mothing, “I have a nice property close to San Ramon, but far enough to be in the middle of nowhere,” she said. “I just turn the lights on and everything comes to me. A private event – me, my camera and all those lovely moths…and insects too.”
She began posting photos on the Project Noah site in 2012 and has about 619 postings, but says her own album contains some 300,000 photos. “I love it that you can always have a permanent record of all the spottings you place there, and there are so many helpful people to help you with identifications.”
Gylma’s love of nature goes back to her childhood when she boarded at a convent school run by nuns. She would play “explorer” on the convent’s large property, leading her friends to a creek to watch eggs develop into tadpoles and then frogs.
She has always shared her love of animals with her family, which includes her four children, three grandchildren and a great-grandchild. “When they were growing up, sometimes we had at least 15 pets – turtles, iguanas, snakes, chameleons, cats. No moths, but I taught my family how to love animals.”
— Sandy Lanman