National Moth Week July 17-25, 2021

Happy Moth Week! Celebrating 10 years of enthusiasm for moths, National Moth Week has lots to offer for all ages and locations. EcoSpark encourages our participants to get outside evenings this week and add your moth sightings to iNaturalist. View Canadian results at:
https://inaturalist.ca/projects/national-moth-week-2021-canada

Excellent resources for finding and learning about moths can be found at https://nationalmothweek.org/, with some special ideas for kids: https://nationalmothweek.org/kids-page/ Your observations make a tremendous difference in research about these vital insects.

In Toronto people have lots of questions about the invasive LDD moth (gypsy moth) practically raining on us in some areas. We love how citizen scientists are pitching in to study the few (yet abundant!) pest species AND helping report the majority of moth species which are beneficial. Read more at https://www.ecospark.ca/blog/gypsymoth-caterpillarscount and also report LDD sightings in the city here: http://www.toronto.ca/gypsymoth

How to attract diverse moths:
Start by turning on a porch light and hanging up a white sheet for the moths to cling to.
Moths can also be baited by painting a slurry of overripe banana, sugar, and beer on a tree trunk. With either method, watch to see what flies in, then carefully take a photo of each moth species for iNaturalist. Remember to identify it at least as a moth to help get more specific ID's from the community.
You can attract and observe moths in any nighttime location. Read more details here: https://nationalmothweek.org/finding-moths-2/

Colourful day-flying moths such as the snowberry clearwing https://inaturalist.ca/observations?taxon_id=358549, a bumble bee mimic, are other interesting finds!

Need more convincing? Here's what the organizers say about why moths are so important:
"Moths can be important bioindicators. A bioindicator is a species or taxon that tells us about the health of an ecosystem. A greater diversity of moths typically means there is a greater diversity of plant species, which leads to a greater diversity of other species as well. They can help us monitor food plant populations and they are important food sources for many nocturnal AND diurnal organisms. Also, moths typically have a reputation of being drab, dull pests. However, that is certainly not the case. An extreme minority of moth species can cause trouble to humans, but most moths either have no impact on our lives or may serve important ecosystem functions such as pollination. Many moths are actually very interestingly patterned and colored. Moths are a world of sphinxes, hawks, owls, tigers, and scary eyes, all waiting for you outside your door, or perhaps in your home."

Posted on July 19, 2021 02:48 PM by ecospark