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 Tel Aviv, Shlomi noticed a moth near the building entrance light, not far from the garbage cans. He snapped two photos on his cell phone. When they returned, the moth was gone. But Shlomi had the photos.

Shlomi is a farm animal veterinarian, an avid birder and photographer. In the last couple of years, he has also become interested in moths.

That evening, he tried to identify the moth in the photos. He knew it was a geometer but also knew he’d never seen this species before. On the Israel nature site run by Oz Ritner, National Moth Week’s country coordinator for Israel, Shlomi found what he was looking for: The moth was a Paulus’ geometer – Selidosema combustaria.

Paulus’ geometer was first collected by an insect dealer named Paulus and described by German entomologist Rudolf Püngeler in 1903. This specimen of a male is housed in a museum in Germany. The collection site is described as “near the Jordan River,” but since he was a rare insect dealer, it is likely that the location is not correct because he would not have wanted others to know where to find this rare species. The one Shlomi found was a dark morph of the species, compared to the ones found previously.

This enigmatic species was not seen again until 2014 when a few individuals showed up at Oz’s light trap in the Lahav area of Israel. Three individuals were sent to be housed in the German museum after a DNA sample for taken. Another is in an Israeli collection.

This moth was not seen again until Shlomi found it in 2022.

“This is why citizen science is so important,” said National Moth Week co-founder Liti Haramaty. “When people of all backgrounds, not just scientists, document moths in their local habitats, they can turn up amazing discoveries, like Shlomi did. It can happen to anybody.”

We understand that using iNaturalist can seem intimidating at first glance but it’s a simple process, you’ll see! We’re going to make sure you are all set to submit your photos for National Moth Week (annually!) and that you’re ready to observe many other subjects in nature as well.

So, what is iNaturalist?

The website describes it as “an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature”.

I will describe it as a platform for people to share their nature photos, sounds, etc., in order to create accurate identifications, make discoveries and to learn, while contributing to science, education, and the overall health of our planet- worldwide.

When we mention photo observations, that photograph of Uncle Charlie’s dog, sitting in the tall grass with a moth on his nose, unfortunately isn’t going to cut it. As adorable as that would be, we’re here to focus the moth (or moth caterpillar), itself.

Imagine taking a photo of some pretty flowers and showing it to your gardener friend in order to find out what kind of flowers they are. Or, maybe you know exactly what they are, but you want to use it to inform others that what they keep calling “Spikey blue field flower” is actually “spiney violet meadow flower” and it truly matters, because one is invasive and the other is not (these are fictional names, even if great ones, sorry). These misidentifications alone, make iNaturalist an important source for nature lovers, learners and caretakers. Through its online network, you have many knowledgeable people waiting to help and share information at any time and place.

HOW TO USE INATURALIST

1)CREATE AN ACCOUNT

If using a mobile phone, download the iNaturalist app and follow the steps to get yourself set up.

If using a computer, head over to www.inaturalist.org and look to the top right for an option to sign up, then continue the prompts.

Once you have your account set up, you can play around with your profile settings, or just leave it alone. That part isn’t mandatory, but you may want to do it later (as you become obsessed with it). Again, totally up to you!

Before we go to the next step, now is a good time to join our National Moth Week project!

Desktop Users – Click “Community” a the top, and then click “Projects”.  Search for National Moth Week 2022 and join the project!  This ensures your moth observations are added to our project, automatically.

2)ADD OBSERVATIONS

To upload a photo, click the “+ Add Observations” on the upper right side of the page (desktop) or tap the green “+” on the bottom right of your mobile app. You will have the option to upload your photos or even take one through the app, on the spot!

Once your photo shows up, you’ll be prompted to fill in a few details, such as the date, time and location. The app can automatically detect these things, depending on your phone settings, but please do enter what you can. For privacy reasons, you have the option to obscure your location so it’s not exact, but a general area. This is still very helpful!

Here, you’ll also have to option to click/tap “What did you see?” and browse ID suggestions. Unless you are confident in your identifications, it’s best to avoid going farther than “Butterflies and Moths”.

While there is more to add, this is as far as you need to go!  See, not so bad, right?  When you get the hang of it, you can start adding more details. In the meantime, the iNaturalist community can take care of the remaining information, once they have identified it.

SOME TIPS FOR TAKING OBSERVATION PHOTOS

1. Get as close as possible to your subject without compromising the focus (or the subject itself!)

2. Getting different angles of the subject is very helpful and will aid in identification, though it’s not always necessary. If you have just a single, top-down shot of a moth/caterpillar, we welcome it!

3. Night-shooting is difficult, as there isn’t much light. Flash can be useful, but it can also brighten your subject beyond recognition, so keep that in mind when using it. Some people like to place material or tracing paper over the flash to dim it, but feel free to get creative (safely, please).

4. Refrain from editing. Cropping is fine and often necessary, however editing can have an effect on identification.

We hope this guide helps you and that you are feeling encouraged to get your observations in!  As always, please reach out if you have any questions regarding your National Moth Week observations, we are happy to help!

HAPPY MOTHING!

Aundrea Schneider

Aundreas is NMW Canada Coordinator

To register to participate in National Moth Week click here

What’s the fuss about citizen science?

What’s the fuss about citizen science?

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Join Michael Sarill of Project Noah at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, for a virtual program about the
popular online global community of nature enthusiasts and its collaboration with National Moth Week,
which starts July 17.
Sponsored by the East Brunswick Public Library in partnership with the Friends of the East Brunswick
Environmental Commission (FriendsEBEC), the program will be available on Zoom and the library’s
Youtube channel. It is free and open to the public. Registration is suggested but not required. Go to
this link to register and find details on accessing the presentation.
Michael will lead aspiring citizen scientists through Project Noah’s Moths of the World mission, which
provides a platform for uploading and publishing photos, creating a personal nature journal and
learning about the natural world on projectnoah.org, as well as its social media platforms. He will also
walk the library through a new video created by Project Noah Nature School on how to go mothing.
He will be joined by Liti Haramaty of Friends EBEC and co-founder of National Moth Week, who will
discuss the upcoming 10th annual observance, how to register an event and how to navigate the newly
designed website and video library with tips and demonstrations of mothing.
National Moth Week shines a light on often unheralded moths, calling attention to their beauty,
extraordinary diversity and essential role in the natural world as pollinators and a food source for other
creatures. It will be observed July 17-25, marking its 10th year.
It was started by Haramaty and David Moskowitz of FriendsEBEC in 2012 and quickly became an
international citizen science project engaging people of all ages and abilities in observing and
documenting moths in their natural habitats in backyards, parks, neighborhoods and other outdoor
venues. Since its founding, public and private mothing events have been registered in all 50 states and
more than 90 countries around the world. (Register here)
Project Noah is an award-winning software platform designed to help people connect with the natural
world and learn about wildlife. It enables amateurs and professionals alike to create and share _________________________________________________________________________________________
National Moth Week (nationalmothweek.org) is a project of the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission,
a 501c3 organization • 9 Camelot Drive, East Brunswick, NJ 08816 • friendsebec.com
multimedia nature journals to collect important ecological data and help preserve global biodiversity.
Project Noah has been a partner organization of National Moth Week since 2012.
Michael Sarill leads product development and partnerships for Project Noah. He earned his bachelor’s
degree in philosophy from Brown University and completed the Beahrs Environmental Leadership
Program at UC Berkeley. He is passionate about wildlife and biodiversity conservation and is excited to
explore ways for people to live in harmony with nature. Prior to Project Noah, he built a wildlife game
called Baboon.
This program is part of the Option Green lecture series hosted by the East Brunswick Library in
partnership with FriendsEBEC.

#

The first Moth Night I attended was back in 2012. I was an avid birder for an entire 2 years at that point, but once you get the nature spark, it pulls you in.  Birding is exciting, and as a “lister,” I have a natural passion to see “new” creatures …. “Lifers” as we call it in birding.

Birding starts to slow after the May migration wanes, and doesn’t pick up again until August with shorebird migration. Sooooo… what to do during that “downtime” in June and July… that’s where the moths come in!

I admit it, I came in to this not knowing what to expect. I saw there was a National Moth Week kickoff event that we saw advertised, and decided to check it out.  What did I know about moths? Well, they flit around lights, they eat holes in your sweaters and are boring, right? WRONG!

We have a term in Birding called “Spark Bird” – that’s the bird that hooks you in and gets you excited (and in some cases, obsessed) about birds.  Well, I had a “Spark Moth” that intrigued me back in 2009 – the Royal Walnut Moth (or Regal Moth) … I found it barely flitting around in my front yard. This thing was enormous and gorgeous.  I decided I needed to get it to rehab because “it didn’t look like it was healthy.” Little did I know, they live to reproduce and that’s it.   I actually went so far as to contact a professor in New York State to figure out how to get it help..I soon was educated in Silk Moth life-cycles and started to get the “bug” to learn more about moths.

When my (then boyfriend, now) husband and I first attended National Moth Week events in NJ, we could not get enough! We went from event to event, “lifing” new moths one more beautiful than the last.  It even got to the point where each year, we put the week on our calendars well in advance to make sure we didn’t commit ourselves to other events, because, we had moths to see!

These creatures truly are amazing. They’re not like the sparrows of the insect world (what we call LBJ’s (Little Brown Jobs))  They are colorful, beautiful and interesting in their own right.

One thing that amuses non-birders about us crazy birders is that we often “chase” rare birds.. that is, we will often share information about the location of a rare or unusual bird withing the community and others will come and look for it. If you miss it, it is called “dipping.”   Well, for me, mothing is no different.  A friend of mine worked at a car dealership in Keyport, NJ and had posted that a Luna Moth (for some, a “holy grail” moth) was hanging out on the side wall of the dealership.  Of course, I was at work in Jersey City, and had to get home, get my car and make my way to Keyport…. yes, I dipped!  But alas, much like birding, other opportunities arise.   The next year, my husband and I vacationed in New Hampshire and had a “flyby” …. in the birding world, this is called a “BVD” (Better Views Desired) … and then, a month later, a friend got word out that he had a Luna Moth just hanging out on his garage door, and welcomed us to his home for what we call in the birding world “upgrade.”   Yessssss!!!

Much like birding, people have their favorite “patches,” that is, a favorite spot to go and observe.   For some reason, I always had luck at our local Park and Ride. By the time I would leave for work, these beautiful creatures would “roost” on the side of the building. It actually started to make me look forward to my commute (if that’s possible.)

So here we are in 2020 – Quarantine, Lockdown, Social Distancing…. sigh! The natural world has been the one constant that gets me through the days (and nights.) Whether it is checking out which birds come to our feeder, what beetles are eating our plants in our garden, or watching NEOWISE, the comet move higher into the sky- it helps to go back to the basics sometimes to feel connected.

You can be sure of one thing… I have our lights, our sheet and iNaturalist all ready to go for National Moth Week 2020.  I can’t wait to hear all the reports.

Good Birding (ehhh, Mothing) to you!

Carl Barrentine, participants since 2013 and National Moth Week team member, is documenting moth species flying in his backyard. Carl will share his methods and findings in a series of daily videos during National Moth Week 2020.

Contributing to National Moth Week with iNaturalist is simple:

Download the free iNaturalist app, photograph and make a separate observation for each moth, check that the location and date are correct, and identify each as precisely as you can. It’s ok if you can just get to family.

All moths observed between July 18 – 26 will be automatically included!

Be sure to join the National Moth Week 2020 project as well: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/national-moth-week-2020

When National Moth Week announced sign-ups for this year, I was once again filled with excitement. Mike and I had plans to set up multiple nights and multiple locations. Normally we set up near the barn (source of electricity), but this year we wanted to try and go out into the meadows. It would require many more extension cords and maybe a car battery, but we wanted to see how the meadow population compared to what shows up near the barn.

Then the SARS-CoV-2 virus hit the United States and with it a poor response to the pandemic. Mike and I both have children and families, the risk of holding an event would be too high for us. We decided to nix it this year, and while it makes my heart heavy, I know it’s the right choice.

But Moth Night must go on! This year I am going to set up my lights in my own backyard and live tweet and Instagram what I see. Most events I have participated in this year have been virtual, so why not make a virtual Moth Night?! And I haven’t taken an inventory of my back yard for a few years. I recently installed a meadow in my own backyard, and I am curious to see if it has made an impact on the biodiversity in my little .33 acres. Anecdotally I can say that this year I am seeing more lightning bugs, but what has the impact been for moths?

I use a pretty simple setup: one old white sheet from my college days, one black light (also from my college days), one photo backdrop support system to hang the sheet,  one mercury vapor light, and a rain shield for the light in case of rain. I use my grandfather’s old tripod for stabilizing the mercury vapor light. He was a photographer when he first immigrated to this country and the tripod was one of the items he brought with him from Germany.  The photo backdrop needs to be anchored or it will topple over, we usually rig something together using bungee cords and weights. We have also used tent stakes and rope to successfully keep it upright. For identifications, I use the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America, and the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America for the other insect guests that stop by.

Please join me on July 19^th, 2020 via Twitter and Instagram to see what I find in my backyard. Will the Regal Moth return this year? Will I see any Sphingids? How many Noctuids and Geometrids will there be? I can’t wait to find out!

Tanya Dapkey is an entomologist working in the Patrick Center for Environmental Research in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia where she studies stream macroinvertebrates to determine water quality. She has an Masters in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and worked with Dr. Daniel Janzen for almost 15 years on the Lepidoptera of the ACG project. Learn more about her at https://www.tanyadapkey.com/ and follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @TanyaDapkey

Thanks to Mudar’s interest in moths, Syria is on National Moth Week’s world map for thefirst time since it was started in 2012. He will be setting up lights near a lake in the Mashqita area to observe and photograph moths and invites others to join him.

“I like nature and photographing nature, but I have just started my second year following butterflies and moths,” said Mudar, who adds that he also will be working on the “first Syrian encyclopedia about Lepidoptera.”

“After I saw the event announcement on the National Moth Week website, I said to myself: ‘why I do not join, I am naturally looking for Lepidoptera everywhere’ and because the event specialized in moths, I decided to make overnight camping in the forest.”

He chose  a mountainous area close to a large lake, “part of the coastal mountain range in western Syria, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea,” where he hopes to discover new species.

Mudar says he is still learning about the  moths of Syria, but believes there are many species that deserve attention. “There may be species that are not described in the rest of the world,” he writes. “I think that Syria is the ideal place to get samples from them. “

He hopes to get IDs for his moth photos to properly identify them. National Moth Week recommends that moth-ers submit their photos to our partner organizations listed on the website.  Experts will assist will identification.

Mudar laments that moth watching is not very popular in Syria.

“I live in a country where the war began eight years ago and has not yet ended. This means that there will not be many people to join in the event and maybe I will be there with one or two of my friends,” he said.  

“But that will not be frustrating,” he said. ” I am doing this to enjoy myself and certainly will not be alone.”

Mudar’s Syrian Butterflies (and moths) website – click here

_______________

Sandy Lanman