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.

People often find it strange that I enjoy studying moths. I mean sure, why care about the butterfly’s “ugly gray brother?” Why stay up until 2 am getting pelted by insects after a long day doing other field work? Because this one of the final frontiers for a naturalist. This is the closest thing I will ever be able to do that’s like what Darwin and Wallace did. The chance and thrill of discovery is what really pushes me. Nearly every time I go out, I see something I’ve never seen before, and it’s all incredibly complexly beautiful, even if it doesn’t appear so.

My undergraduate research project is extremely broad and not much different that what most people do in their backyards. I’m just lucky enough to have a laboratory at Iowa State supporting me. Originally the basis of my work was to complement a much larger butterfly project that is occurring in Ringgold County, Iowa.

Once I actually got out mothing, I started getting all sorts of moths and invertebrates (and one painted turtle and some concerned locals) and this started getting out of hand. You see, mothing on a prairie is so much different that mothing in a wooded area.

When you’re out on the prairie, the sheet will quickly become thickly covered in insects because the lights are visible from so far away. Processing a sheet full of bugs became a major task, especially when you’re including micro-moths.

Given the amount of time that it takes to do, I was forced to just focus on photographing and documenting species I hadn’t seen before, essentially making this a species survey of the area.

While that took a lot of work off my hands, I still have many species come to my lights that I have no idea what they are. My saving grace for a large amount of my identification work has been done by citizen scientists.

My sheet and frame setup is a cheap and simple but a very effective design created by Jim Durbin. The frame is made of metal electrical conduit pipe held up by electric fence posts. It’s really nice because are several ways to hang a sheet.

For power, I use a single 35 AH 12 volt wheelchair battery, which will last me more than a full night. For lighting I run a 4 foot double fixture with blacklight tubes, and a photography bulb which is on a tripod. The freedom of a mobile setup was worth the cost of a battery and charger, especially when many of the sites I moth at are 20 miles from the nearest town.

As far as what I’ve found so far, I think I have uncovered about 200 species, most of which will be new for my county, and a few, first for the state.

I’ve been mothing for three years now, and nearly every night, something comes in that I have never seen before, and it’s absolutely thrilling.

I’ve taken many people mothing with me before, and so many are shocked by the beauty of the moths that claim the night.

I’d really like to thank everyone who’s helped me identify moths, given me advice, and taken the time to ask about my work. The mothing community is great and makes it all the more fun.

Logan is searching for an internship working with or studying Lepidoptera (in the United States or international) next summer and would greatly appreciate any information on potential opportunities.

From birdwatchers to butterfly taggers, people everywhere enjoy discovering new things by observing the world around them. Aside from birds and butterflies, there is also a large contingent of moth enthusiasts, commonly called “moth’ers”. The two of us were intrigued when we heard this, as we had never heard of “moth’ers” before. We heard about an event called National Moth Week from our biology teacher, which actually began in New Jersey as a way for “mothers” to get together to collaborate. Our biology class later Skyped with a high school student, Jacob Gorneau, from upstate New York, who was integral to the data collection of Moth Week. He talked to us about citizen science and the impact everyone could have on field science. He said he participates in Project Noah, an initiative to help nature enthusiasts identify plants and animals they spot. Both of us were inspired by his story, because it showed us that we, as freshman students, could help scientists in their research. We are also reading Dr. David Haskell’s best-selling book, The Forest Unseen – A Year’s Watch in Nature, in our English classes. It discusses the beauty of nature, and the intricacy of its workings from a biologist’s point of view. Field studies like Dr. Haskell’s are a major part of our biology class as well. In short, we are surrounded by field science in school, and after Skyping with Jacob Gorneau, we were inspired to propose and eventually conduct this experiment related to moths.

We have already tried attracting moths using moth bait – a mixture of stale liquor, overripe fruit, and sugar or molasses. We were not very successful with this technique. Jacob Gorneau had told our class that he used lamps to attract moths. The type of lamp he used is a halogen lamp, which works by combining a halogen gas with tungsten vapor to produce light. Halogen lamps also produce a great deal of heat. However, Jacob Gorneau told us about using mercury vapor lamps. They work by heating mercury, normally liquid at room temperature, until it vaporizes and ionizes. The mercury then emits light and heat. The major difference between the two lamps, aside from how they work, is the color of light they produce and their lifespan – mercury lamps last much longer than halogen, and produce bluer light. We wish to investigate whether the type of lighting significantly influences the number of moths that can be attracted with each. We created a setup similar to Jacob’s. Each lamp has been placed inside its own tall frame, made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) piping. A sheet was placed around each frame to prevent moths from touching the lamps and dying. Each frame will be put outside at night for two hour periods for two days at four different locations. So far we have sampled at two different locations on a few different occasions. The moth-attracting ability of the two lamps will be measured by comparing the average amount of moths on each setup across all eight nights. Since mothing season had not yet come around when we were doing much of our sampling, we don’t have a large quantity of data as of now. The most recent sampling data, however, shows that there is a significant difference between the moth attraction of the two lamps. The mercury vapor lamp attracted significantly more moths than the halogen lamp. The difference in moth quantities was quite evident, but we need further sampling to make sure that this pattern wasn’t just a fluke. Anjali and I hope to collect more data before we begin our sophomore year at High Technology High School in the fall.

Today we’ve got a guest post from Ken Childs:

Once a year I like to try to photograph one of every moth species seen during one night of intensive mothing. Since it was National Moth Week and conditions were warm and humid on July 22, I decided that would be the night. July 22 is also my birthday and as a bug geek, I couldn’t think  of a better way to celebrate. Usually my first check of the lights doesn’t produce much but when I’d photographed more than 80 species before  10:15, I knew I’d picked the right night for my count!

During the heat of summer, I generally check my lights at 10:00 P.M., 11:00 P.M., and Midnight. For this project I added one more check at  3:00 A.M. and ended up photographing 212 species of moths.

Here’s my Picasa album documenting the final results. My goal was to try and get a photographic record of each species so many of these moths were not in very good condition  and I didn’t go out of my way to try and get particularly good photos. This is simply a visual record of what I saw during one good night of mothing.  All photos were taken on my farm here in west Tennessee on 7/22/14 and 7/23/14.

Here’s my main sheet and light setup:

The top bulb is a 160w MV and it’s right at the outside edge of a shed that I use for hay storage. The sheet is 5 feet inside the shed so it’s mostly protected from the weather. It’s supported on some thin rope strung across the supports of the shed with a pulley on one side to  adjust the tension. On the front of the sheet are 2 x 40w white black lights and 1 x 15w black light. On the back of the sheet are 2 x 13w  CFL black lights. To the right and behind the sheet is a sheet of cheap plywood paneling with the unfinished side exposed and on that I have  a 13w CFL black light and a 15w tube black light. This shed is actually 2 x 20′ carports put end to end and the sides towards the back are  plywood and some old rusty metal roofing panels with lots of gaps which allows plenty of bug access. The wood and rusted metal make for interesting  backgrounds for many of my photos. It’s surprising just how many moths stay at the fringes of the lighted area. There are species that I  rarely find on the sheet but can be relatively common in the back of this shed.

My main moth photo albums can be found here. The majority of the moth photos were taken within 100 feet of my house here near Henderson, Tennessee. As of this writing, I’ve identified 1267 species of moths on my property and have photographs of another 100 or so species that I  haven’t been able to identify, at least not yet. If you are located in eastern North America, please use these albums as a resource to help identify your  moths. I can’t guarantee all the identifications are correct so if you think you’ve found a match, double check the ID on the Moth Photographers Group and Bug Guide.

I have a 5′ x 6′ canvas sheet mounted on a PVC frame attached to the back wall of my house, under a 4-ft overhang. It’s a painter’s dropcloth, so it’s quite thick and sturdy to avoid wind vibration. This is the 6th season that the sheet has been up from April to September. It has held up well, with a good wash and bleach each spring. A Bioquip 160 W mercury vapour light hangs in front of the sheet. Also in front of the sheet is a Leptraps light fixture, with a 24″ 40W 365 Quantum BL bulb and stainless steel vanes. The funnel beneath the light leads into a plastic recycling box. The box is filled with egg cartons, which provide spaces for the moths to roost in overnight. Many moths land on the sheet and never enter the (live)trap: others, such as dart moths, are usually found in the trap. I photograph the moths just before sunrise, as I am much more of a lark than an owl!

Want to have your set-up featured on the blog? Let us know via email (elena@nationalmothweek.org), Facebook or tweet us (@Moth_Week)!

Like last year, we’ll be profiling some NMW events and light set-ups here on the blog. It’s interesting to get a look at some other mothing set-ups to see what others are doing to attract moths.

First up, we’ll take a took at Carl Barrentine’s set up. If you remember, Dr. Barrentine is running a series of NMW events in North Dakota, and we’re thrilled to have him on board. Here’s how he moths.

Carl Barrentine’s setup: 160 watt MV-equipped light trap set on a horizontal sheet, and  twin 40 watt UV lights that are on the horizontal sheet but aimed upward at the vertical sheet.  The plastic bags contain 15-ml test tubes (for containing smaller moths) and two sizes of plastic pots (for larger moths).  Captured moths are stored in the insulated cooler, which contains a zip-lock bag with ice beneath a layer of crumpled paper.  The cooler provides a dark and cool shelter that helps to ‘quiet’ active moths.

Here’s the two-sheet light set-up in action:

Want to have your event featured on the blog? Let us know via email (elena@nationalmothweek.org), Facebook or tweet us (@Moth_Week)!

Read Marcie’s blog post about her NMW event

Urban Art Projects (UAP) is thrilled to introduce exciting new programming inspired by the desire to bring to the public participatory art projects involving science, technology and the environment. UAP’s first large-scale project in this vein is The Summer of Love 2012 featuring citywide installations by artist /scientist Brandon Ballengée. Each installation in this project is titled “Love Motel for Insects”. People and insects of all stripes will be drawn to the enormous glowing luna moth, the first Love Motel for Insects installation that will soon be in the sculpture court, generously donated by Jim Kempner Fine Art, at 501 West 23^rd Street.  Please stop by to engage in this interactive black light sculptural exhibit that offers a bold scientific and artistic inquiry into our urban ecology.  Free and open to the public Tuesday – Saturday from 10am to 6pm and occasional evenings from June 9 through August 4 2012.  Free and open at all times to local moths, beetles, etc.  Butterfly Project NYC will plant native flowers at the base of the sculpture to create important insect habitat. The public need not hesitate as Ballengée has assured us that the structure will not lure many mosquitoes, ticks or other insects that bite!

Love Motel for Insects is an outdoor sculptural-light installation by Brandon Ballengée utilizing ultra-violet lights to attract insects and to create an opportunity for public interactions with nocturnal arthropods, which are not often seen. Versions of Ballengée’s black-light sculptures have taken place in diverse environments worldwide: each sculpture is site-specific to each unique community and ecosystem. Additional Love Motel for Insects locations to be part of the Summer of Love 2012 include Drew Gardens, located in the South Bronx, and Cross Hill Academy in Yonkers. Each of these sculptures is based on one tiny “scale” from the wing of the luna moth, a species indigenous to NYC. Details about other locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan will follow as sites become finalized.

Love Motel for Insects various iterations have been extensively covered by the media as well as referenced by academia. Brandon Ballengée’s artwork is represented by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts,where his exhibition “Collapse: The Cry of Silent Forms” will be on display May 5th – June 16th. Ballengée’s work has been reviewed by numerous art critics for mass publications such as the New York Times, Cornerhouse, etc; other media coverage includes features on PBS, ABC News, BBC and NPR. Ballengée’s work is in numerous public collections including The American Museum of Natural History in New York, NASA in Washington D.C., Yorkshire Sculpture Park in England, and the Yale Peabody Museum.

In addition to being a worthwhile project artistically. The Summer of Love 2012 has the added benefit of supporting what many have articulated as an urgent call for improvements in science education. Ballengée’s project excites youth and the public about science, based on their direct experience with the sculpture. UAP looks forward to contributing towards this important educational and societal goal by bringing Brandon Ballengée’s public art project, “Love Motel for Insects”, to New York City for The Summer of Love 2012!

Urban Art Projects (UAP) is a non-profit and 501(c) 3 whose overriding mission is producing public art projects. Extensively covered by mainstream and art-related media, UAP’s projects have included public art exhibitions installed on the New York City waterfront featuring, among others, internationally known artist Swoon. UAP is excited about its new programming bringing to the public participatory artworks involving art, science and technology.

Funders and others that have helped to make The Summer of Love 2012 and Love Motel for Insects possible include: Lily Auchincloss Foundation, The National Audubon Society’s TogetherGreen Initiative with Toyota, EcoArtSpace/SEE, Jim Kempner Fine Art and various private donors via Kickstarter and otherwise.  The Love Motel for Insects is also sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (BAC). The Love Motel for Insects is also made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Check out www.uaprojects.org ,“Like” us on facebook:  www.facebook.com/urbanartp,  and follow us on twitter @urbanartp !