AI: National Moth Week!
National Moth Week is a new project celebrating moths and biodiversity in the US. Mark your calendars for July 23-29, 2012.
They can be amazing mimics; they can be as tiny as the head of a pin. They can be huge with surprising underwing patterns, like the moth on the Moth Week Logo. The purpose of Moth Week is two-fold; to encourage people to go outside and look at the life around them, and also to encourage people to document and submit what they see as part of a larger citizen science project.
You don’t need to know what you are looking at to participate–if you post your images on the Discover Life site (following the protocol), they will identify them for you!
You can find instructions for having a Moth Party at your house on the Discover Life website, too. I plan to have a Moth Night Celebration at my house in Connecticut. I live in a perfect area for mothing–streams, a big pond, forest, and agricultural land all near me. We’ll get lots of interesting insects, including moths.
Join me in being one Bad Moth-er…
(Shut your mouth!)
What about you? Do you think you’ll participate? Is standing around at night looking at bugs your kind of party? If not, what is your kind of party?
The Afternoon Inquisition (or AI) is a question posed to you, the Skepchick community. Look for it to appear Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 3pm ET.
Some resources:
- How to light trap moths (PDF)
- How to bait for moths (PDF)
- BugGuide has photos of most common moths in the US!
I LOVE moths! Last week I got to poke around in McGill university’s entomology labs and look at their bug collection and I soooo loved the moths. I get such a kick out of all that… I don’t know, the diversity of forms from a finite set of constitutive elements, I guess. This basic biological strategy and emerging from that SO much aesthetic variation and all these beautiful specifics. Definitely my kind of party!
Probably wouldn’t make it a party on my own, but would go to a party someone else planned. Or I would happily participate on my own.
Unfortunantly at the moment I’m working very long hours.
I may also have to try to slip in a caterpilar to see if I can get it identified. Though I suspect it’s a butterfly, not a moth.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/duchek/2064639799/in/set-72157603459384775
Moths are my favourite of creatures, second only to bees. I can get behind a party like this.
Quick check in to say I never really thought about moths, which is why I love what I learn at Skepchick and I am so behind National Moth Week, and I want to support it and life is amazing and interesting and…so…tired…can’t formulate coherent…zzzzzz
Luna moths are one of my favourite creatures! This sounds rather fun to me…