Dave, a longtime member of National Moth Week’s science advisory board and president of the Athol Bird and Nature Center, shared photos and a description of their most recent event.

The original “Moth Ball” established in 2009 was held Friday, July 23, at the home of Dave and Shelley Small.

The event, sponsored by the Athol Bird and Nature Club, coincided with the 10th anniversary of National Moth Week. Afternoon rains may have limited the volume of moths observed but not the enthusiasm of the 40+ attendees who rotated among the various light setups and bait stations around the property.

Thanks to all who attended great food, great friends, and interesting insects. (people photo by Sue Cloutier)

Photos by Sue Cloutier

Photos by David Small

The annual Moth Night was held on an unusually warm and humid night on July 14. The event was
preceded by a Sausage Sizzle. Approximately 65 people attended, most of whom were
members of the Friends of the Botanic Gardens.

Light sheets were set in the rainforest near the entrance to the Red Arrow Trail. Another
was in a gully just below dominated by several huge Paperbarks, Melaleucua leucadendra.
A small generator provided the power source.

Just at dark the power was turned on and the moths and other insects started to arrive
shortly thereafter.

It is officially “winter” in Australia in July, but in the tropics as we are in
Cairns, it is a mild winter at best. This year it was even more mild than usual. This seemed to
help with the number of insects that came to the lights. However, in “summer” (December
and January) we would expect an even greater number of species.

There were few complaints about the paucity of insects and everyone seemed to find something of interest.

Phone cameras were in prominent use. In addition to the moths, visitors discovered other member of the rainforest community out and about after dark.

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.

#

So why register your moth “event” for National Moth Week. What is the significance?

In short – every single observation counts, by contributing to the “bigger picture”.

How??

Citizen science is not new – collection of moth data and bird data from observers in the United Kingdom has taken place for several hundred years. The internet has revolutionized the process, though, through citizen science portals / apps that make it easier than it has ever been to photograph an observation and submit it, along with the location and time-stamp, to a portal for collating biological data. These collated data are then checked for accuracy, usually by researchers, or by dedicated volunteers, and once verified, can become part of a project run by researchers looking at (e.g.) changes in species distribution over time, changes in species phenology (e.g. when they occur and in what life stage they occur, or when they flower, or something like when the first cuckoo call of spring happens each year). Only by aggregating data from many sources can projects tackle big (regional, national, international or global) issues, such as how species are responding to changes in the landscape globally.

Let me give you one example that I have been involved with. I run a number of recording projects on iNaturalist, one of which is for moths that are found in Hong Kong. Data is provided by many people, some of whom contribute thousands of observations, some contribute just a few observations. All together, the distribution and coverage is far better than I could ever achieve on my own, and gives me a much better idea about _which_ species should receive greater attention for conservation action. I teamed up with academics from The University of Hong Kong to look at other questions, one of which was “is climate change impacting moths in Hong Kong”, to which the answer is “probably” – with different species responding in different, sometimes unexpected ways. Some species were shifting their distribution uphill, a few the other way, some not shifting significantly at all and some shifting their distribution northwards, i.e. tropical species arriving in subtropical Hong Kong in the last few decades, just as is happening with many species shifting distributions elsewhere in the world.

Are “common” species important ?

Absolutely. Have you ever heard of the Passenger Pigeon? – it was North America’s commonest bird species in the 1890s, yet by 1930 it was extinct (gone for ever). We do not know exactly what the future holds for any species on Earth, including us, Homo sapiens. But we cannot assume that just because a species is common it is not vulnerable to extinction.

So records of common moth species, the ones that are familiar to the moth recorders and researchers, are _really_ important, just as records of currently rare moth species are important. Thus everyone’s contribution to National Moth Week, whether just one or two moths from a backyard light or chanced upon in the garden, or of hundreds of moths seen in an all night mothing session, all go to building a bigger picture of how moths are distributed (spatially and in abundance) now – and can be compared in years to come. Every observation counts.

If you thought it’s not important to register with NMW, please reconsider. Your data is meaningful. If you haven’t used a citizen science portal before, there’s a first time for everyone. Yes, it can seem scary and overwhelming, but these apps have real people, amateur naturalists, professional biologists, academics, kids, using them, supporting newcomers and “old pros” alike! You will be made welcome, and there are people in the iNaturalist community who will help if you need help. A good place to start is the “getting started” page.

Now go and register – get outside and mothing (by day or night) in your backyard and enjoy your contribution and participation into and with the global community. Please.

—

Dr. Roger C. KENDRICK lives and works in Hong Kong. He is a Natioanl Moth Week team member.

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

The activity took place at Las Arrieras Nature Reserve, in the Caribbean lowlands of the country, being one of the most diverse regions of Costa Rica! The Reserve protects more than 60 acres of tropical rainforest, rivers, swamps and it also have small patches of disturbed habitat that are in process of reforestation. The variety of habitats enables a lot of niches that moths occupy, resulting in a massive diversity of species!

The event was held on July 27-28. Luck was on our side, as we had perfect climate conditions, despite this being a very rainy place (it is a Rainforest after all). Twelve people participated in the moth-watching event, anxious to learn about these mysterious creatures.

We had three different setups for the moths to be attracted to light (blacklight and fluorescent bulbs were used). Turning on our lights at 18:00, the activity of moths started to warm as the night advanced. The firsts species came from the Crambidae and Pyralidae families, followed by other groups like Notodontidae, Geometridae and Arctiinae appearing later on.

People were especially attracted to the diversity in forms and colors of geometers and tiger moths, but what really caught all of our attention was the enormous Automeris belti with its striking eyelike patterns in the hindwings!

But we not only saw moths, we had nightwalks in the inside of the forest, where we found more insects and frogs! We played a Bingo with the species of moths that were appearing at the traps and games regarding the tropical nature of our country! In the traps we also had the presence of other insects such as praying mantis, giant cockroaches, dobsonflies, beetles, a couple of mantidflies and even a Bullet Ant (the insect responsible of one the most painful stings in the world!).

By the end of the night, everyone was completely satisfied because of the high diversity of moths that we saw and the time spent meeting people that are also interested in this amazing group of insects!

Las Arrieras Nature Reserve showed us more than 120 species of macromoths in only 6 hours! The tropics are incredible and we only can imagine the infinite mysteries that this group is hiding!

Two moth setups were placed- one near the entrance of the office, while the other was placed in our office’s Butterfly Garden. 

Glad to share that our office backyard is home to over 15 species of moths that were recorded in our backyard itself. Topics regarding moth identification, behaviour, breeding biology and habitats were discussed through informative activities such as moth themed quizzes and moth tambola. The participants were fascinated to spot  the Beet Webworm Moth which was around us through the event.

We had received registrations from 45 participants, but due to rains only 15 were able to make it. Overall we received a positive response on the event organized and we are grateful to have been invited by National Moth Week and Dr. Shubalaxmi Vaylure to guide us in conducting this event.