Dr. Wagner reports diminished numbers of moths, particularly the larger saturniids and sphingids. These declines are supported by anecdotal reports from many collectors throughout Wagner’s home state of Connecticut, where 65 Lepidoptera species are thought to be extirpated.

Decreases in moth abundance can be attributed to habitat loss (particularly loss of early successional habitats), development, overgrazing by deer and climate change. Light pollution may also play a role in declines but this factor has not yet been experimentally supported.

Additionally, parasitic flies such as Compsilura concinnata that were introduced to control pest species like gypsy moths (Limantria dispar) and brown-tail moths (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)  also prey on native and non-pest species as well.

The bottom line is that more data are needed, particularly from long term monitoring studies to really document observed declines in moth species.

References:

Conrad K.F, M.S. Warren, R. Fox, M.S. Parsons, and I.P. Woiwod. 2006. Rapid declines of common, widespread British moths provide evidence of an insect biodiversity crisis. Biological Conservation 132: 279-291.

Thomas J.A. 2005. Monitoring change in the abundance and distribution of insects using butterflies and other indicator groups. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 360: 339–357.

Wagner, DL. 2012. Moth decline in the Northeastern United States. News of the Lepidopterists’ Society 54(2): 52-56.

We recently obtained a copy of WJ Holland’s that will also be offered as a prize.

Seabrooke Leckie – Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America

John Himmelman – Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard

Dave Wagner – Caterpillars of Eastern North America

Dave Wagner – Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America

Jim Arnosky – Crinkleroot’s

We also have copies of these books:

Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths
Rare, Declining, and Poorly Known Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) of Forests and Woodlands in the Eastern United States.

Butterflies and Moths of Pacific Northwest Forests and Woodlands: Rare, Endangered, and Management-Sensitive Species.

In 1994, Himmelman co-founded The Connecticut Butterfly Association (ctbutterfly.org). It has been going strong ever since! He has also been involved in a number of other environmental organizations and commissions. Being a night owl led to an appreciation of the insect songs he was hearing in the woods around him. This led to two more books; “Guide to the Night-Singing Insects of the Northeast” (illustrated by Michael DiGiorgio – Stackpole Books), and “Cricket Radio; Tuning in the Night-Singing Insects” (Harvard). The first is the “how”, with regard to getting to know these insects. The second is the “why”, as in, “Why should we care to?”

Himmelman lives in a semi-rural part of Connecticut on five acres which is adjacent to three hundred acres of woodland. Much of his time is spent exploring this microcosm – day and night. Over the years he’s come across over 850 species of moths in his yard, many of which, being such tiny little things, will remain unidentified. His mothing blog (Moths in a Connecticut Yard) has recently seen its 10 year anniversary. It’s at connecticutmoths.com. On July 28^th, he plans to gather with some friends to join in the celebration of National Moth Week.

In addition to his natural history pursuits, he is a martial artist and co-president of Green Hill Martial Arts in Killingworth, CT, where he teaches Chon Tu Kwan Hapkido and Jeet Kune Do.

Visit John’s main website at johnhimmelman.com.

Dave Moskowitz, co-founder of National Moth Week, writes the ‘New Jersey  Moths’   blog for  Wild NJ,  a website dedicated to wildlife in NJ, and a partner of National Moth Week.  Dave writes about different moths that he finds, his adventures while mothing, his favorite mothing and nature books and more.  http://wildnewjersey.tv/categories/263/new-jersey-moths.aspx

Todd Dreyer, National Moth Week team member, is working on cataloging the moths of Middlesex County, NJ.  The blog  is ‘Mercury Vapor, Moths & Me’  where you can see Todd’s  stunning photographs. http://mothsofmiddlesexcountynj.blogspot.com/2012/03/polygrammate-hebraeicum-hebrew.html

Seabrooke Leckie is a biologist and naturalist, writer and photographer, but most of all a lover of nature. She is the co-author, with David Beadle, of the new Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America and a sponsor of National Moth Week.  In her blog,  ‘The marvelous in nature’ Seabrooke’s writes about moths and other natural marvelous.      http://seabrookeleckie.com/blog/

John Beetham writes in his blog  ‘A DC birding blog’  about birds, insects and everything nature, including moths.  John is a supporter of National Moth Week.  http://dendroica.blogspot.com/.

Bug_Girl (we are pretty sure it’s her real name) has a PhD in Entomology; she is a dot.com designer, web mistress, and forensic consultant. In her blog she writes about everything bugs, which includes moths, of course.  She is a supporter of National Moth Week.  http://membracid.wordpress.com/

Chris Grinter is an entomologist at the California Academy Sciences.  His blog Skeptical Moth, offers a glimpse into this amazing insect diversity while exploring various aspects of critical thinking and science education. Chris is also a supporter of National Moth Week.  http://skepticalmoth.southernfriedscience.com/

Eric R. Eaton, A.K.A. Bug Eric, is a professional, self-employed writer and entomologist, principal author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America.  He is a supporter of National Moth Week. http://bugeric.blogspot.com/search?q=moth

These are the mothing blogs that I know of. If you write, or know of other moths and mothing  blogs, please write to me with the web address.    Thanks. Liti

The evening began with an interesting presentation on moths by Seabrooke, followed by a book signing and then Seabrooke co-hosted a moth night event with the Friends in the wildflower meadow behind the Cultural Arts Center. There were a variety of moth light setups to attract moths including Mercury Vapor and Ultraviolet blacklights. Despite the unseasonably cold temperatures, quite a few interesting moths flew into the light setups for everyone to see. Seabrooke identified each moth that was attracted to the lights and their were ample opportunities to photograph the moths as well. People came from near and far for the event, including from Sussex and Bergen Counties. It was a special night and highly enjoyable.

Seabrooke is a co-sponsor of National Moth Week (www.nationalmothweek.org). National Moth Week was started by the Friends as an off-shoot of our highly successful and award-winning local moth night events that we’ve been running for the past 6 years. National Moth Week now has more than 150 locations and events in 31 states and six countries. The National Moth Week website is filled with information about moth week events and moths. Consider participating in National Moth Week this summer (July 23-29) and discover the incredible world of moths.

“My moth light set-up.  A UV “de-zappified” bug zapper with sheet attached to shed. The shed’s at the far end of the mowed yard at the edge of the woods.

I keep it set up against the shed because it’s convenient. It stays there for a few years, weathering hurricanes and harsh winters – and I like the way it looks in the yard…”.

John is the author of “Discovering Moths”, one of the best introductions for both beginners and for those with a more advanced interest in moths. Participants in National Moth Week will have a chance to win a signed copy of the book.

Donna Brunet has combined an educational background in environmental history and entomology into a full-time career as a free-lance photographer specializing in insect photographs. Her images are of wild, free-flying insects with the exception of a few moths collected at lights.

She is currently completing work as the author and primary photographer for a new butterfly and moth field guide which will be published by the Missouri Department of Conservation in 2013.

Her work has been exhibited in nature centers, public gardens, and businesses throughout Missouri. Fine art prints and greeting cards are regularly sold at her art gallery in Orr Street Studios in downtown Columbia, Missouri, and from her website at http://donnabrunet.com. Her recently designed growth charts decorated with butterflies and dragonflies have been extremely popular with parents and grandparents.

Orr Street Studios will host Donna’s slide presentation for National Moth Week on Tuesday, July 24th. Donna is the volunteer leader for the “Attracting Moths with Bait and Light” program at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park on Saturday, July 28th.

Donna licenses her images herself and through a stock agency. Images have been used in various publications and on interpretive displays in city and state parks throughout Missouri as well as in larger venues such as Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

At Michigan State University, Eric took every entomology class that he could fit into his schedule.  His first date with his wife-to-be, Pat, was a trip black lighting for moths.  At his retirement from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in 1996, Ohio’s Governor George Voinovich appointed Eric as Ambassador of Natural Resources.   In 2005, Eric was inducted in the Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame.

In 1979 he co-founded two organizations – The Ohio Lepidopterists http://ohiolepidopterists.org and the Columbus Natural History Society.  In 1997 he co-founded Ohio’s state-wide butterfly monitoring program http://butterflymonitoring.org and the Midwest Biodiversity Institute, Inc.

Eric is active in The Lepidopterists’ Society http://www.lepsoc.org   He chaired the committee on collecting http://www.lepsoc.org and he was President in 1996-97.

Eric published 52 scientific papers on Lepidoptera, and he described 15 species of moths new to science. His most recent book in 2005 is a study of butterflies and moths of the northern tall grass prairies – the first ever study of insects in the tall grass prairies.

Eric holds an Adjunct appointment in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University.  He is a research associate of The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico, and The Florida State Collection of Arthropods.  He is listed in Who’s Who.

Eric Metzler publishes regularly.  His current research interests include Cochylini (Tortricidae) and Lepidoptera which occur in the northern Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico.  He is conducting started long term studies of the moths at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.

He and his wife, Patricia, have one son, Meredith.  Eric lives in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Here is what she posted on her blog on April 20th, 2012:

I head off on the book tour for the Peterson Field Guide to Moths in a week and a half! I’m busy finalizing details and getting myself organized to go; lots of little things to take care of before then.

Here’s the final tour schedule. If you have a question about any of these events, please contact the person listed (if it’s regarding the facilities) or myself (if it’s regarding the event details, or if no person is listed).

*Event attendees may leave early if you need to go – we won’t trap you!

April 29 Dearborn (Detroit), Michigan 8pm – midnight* University of Michigan-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center Presented by UMD with Rouge River Bird Observatory More information (with link to map). Please RSVP with this form.

April 30 Middleburg (Columbus), Ohio 8pm – midnight* Big Darby Headwaters Nature Preserve Presented by Columbus Audubon More information. Please RSVP with this link or email sross at TNC.org by April 25.

May 1 Wheeling, West Virginia 7:30 – midnight* Oglebay’s Good Zoo Please RSVP to Penny Miller by email (pmiller at oglebay-resort.com) or phone 304-243-4027.

May 2-5 New River Gorge National River, West Virginia New River Birding and Nature Festival This is a registration-only event. If you’re interested in participating, visit the festival’s website here.

May 6 – day off for sanity

May 7 Davis, West Virginia 7pm – midnight* Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center More information.

May 8 Millersburg, Pennsylvania 8pm – midnight* Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art More information. Registration suggested but not necessary. Members free, non-members $3.

May 9 Hockessin, Delaware 7pm – 9pm* (or later) Ashland Nature Center Presented by Delaware Nature Society More information. This appears to be listed as members-only, which I hadn’t realized. If you are interested in coming to this event but are not a member of the DNS, contact me and I’ll see about sneaking you in.

May 10 East Brunswick, New Jersey 8pm – 11pm* East Brunswick Cultural Arts Center, Playhouse 22 Presented by Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission More information.

May 11 – day off to visit friends

May 12 Athol, Massachusetts 8pm – midnight* 1542 Pleasant Street, Athol Hosted by Dave Small of the Athol Bird and Nature Club For more information contact Dave by email (dave at dhsmall.net) or phone (978-413-1772) (event posting here)

May 13 Danby, New York 8pm – 10:30pm* (or later) Danby Town Hall Presented by Danby Conservation Advisory Council More information.