National Moth Week is back this summer from July 22 through 30. These creatures, whose fluttering wings mean they are often mistaken for butterflies, are the under-appreciated pollinators essential to maintaining the delicate food chain balance.
To celebrate the critters, The Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter will be hosting a mothing event on Tuesday July 25, from 9-11 p.m., titled “Moth Magic,” on the back deck of the center.
“Moths are an important part of most ecosystems! They are both predators and important prey in our food webs and can act as decomposers, pollinators, and a source of beauty and awe,” says Hunter Klingensmith, the visitor experience and exhibit manager for the Preserve, in an email with The Park Record.
Moths can also be bioindicators, demonstrating the health of an ecosystem. A greater diversity of moths can signify greater diversity in other plant and animal species, the email from Klingensmith says.
“Needing only a light and a sheet, ‘mothing’ is the amazing experience of observing the hundreds of moths and other insects you can attract,” explains Swaner’s website. This is the first year the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter will be hosting an event for the public.
Moths’ attraction to light, known as positive phototaxis, is a phenomena that has no certain cause. Speculations by scientists include: it disorients the moths, it simulates daytime for the nocturnal creatures so they “settle in” or it tricks them into seeing dark spots to hide.
“We’ll be joined by Dr. Alexander Knudson, an arthropod diagnostician and extension assistant professor at Utah State University, who will be helping us to identify moths and other insects and sharing his bug stories,” says Klingensmith.
Knudson will be available to explain some of the species they find as well as answer questions about moths.
While there are more than 10,000 species of moths in North America, Klingensmith says that the moth species identified near the Preserve area are Ermine Moths, Spotted Tussock Moths, Hawkmoths, Tiger Moths and Sphinx Moths. The event hopes to see of some or all of these types.
Other insects that are attracted to UV light and may be seen at Tuesday’s event are mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies.
Register for the free event on the website for a fun, interactive evening. Hot chocolate will be provided, but bring a layers for extra warmth as the evening will be chilly.
