National Moth Week 2024 Recap from Kansas City

We are in the Greater Kansas City Metro area, anyway, here in Leavenworth, Kansas. National Moth Week ran from July 20-28 this year, which was helpful because the weather was unstable and somewhat volatile, and we were traveling during the end of that time span. Our results were mixed, but they did include some new species for our property.

Chickweed Geometer Moth, Haematopis grataria, is a pretty dependable species for National Moth Week.

This part of the United States has received more rain this year than in the previous three that we have experienced. Oddly, this seems to have driven insect diversity and abundance down. Our plants are doing well. I had no idea that violets could grow that tall and that dense, for example. The goldenrod may be taller than I am by the time it blooms.

Green Cloverworm Moth, Hypena scabra, is common here most of the summer.

Black-bordered Lemon Moth, Marimatha nigrofimbria, has been a "regular" in our yard this year.

I walked our yard in the daytime on the afternoon of July 21, and flushed the above three moth species from our “lawn.”

Clemens' Grass Tubeworm Moth, Acrolophus popeanella.

That night I switched on the light for our covered side porch, which is only about five feet from the neighbor’s house, but only managed to attract a couple of grass tubeworm moths. Returning to the front entrance, I discovered what I believe to be an adult Variegated Cutworm lodged on the inside of the screen door.

Variegated Cutworm Moth, Peridroma saucia, I think.

Ironically, an unidentified tortricid moth appeared on the side porch screen door during the day on July 25.

Unidentified tortricid moth.

On July 26 I hiked over to Havens Park, one of the few forested places in town, in hopes of flushing some underwing moths, as I have had fair luck in the past. Lo and behold, I did get one, an Epione Underwing, Catocala epione, that stuck around just long enough for me to get a couple of images. Breaking through countless spider webs strung across the trail was worth it after all.

Epione Underwing, Catocala epione.

I set up our entolight blacklight twice, once in the back yard on the night of July 23, and again in the front yard on July 26. The difference in the species between the two locations is rather surprising. Frankly, given that the federal prison, lit up like Las Vegas every night, is less than two blocks away, I am mystified as to how we attract anything.

Maple Looper Moth, Parallelia bistriaris.

The back yard yielded a few moths, mostly small and common species, but also delivered a couple of lovely, larger moths. When blacklighting, it helps to remember to look on foliage, tree trunks, fence posts, and other surfaces just beyond the reach of the illumination of your lights. Many moth species are “too shy” to come directly to the sheet.

Banded tussock moth, Halysidota sp., found in the shadows just beyond the reach of the light.

The front yard, like the back yard, had few moths at the light until about eleven PM. Naturally, every time I decided I should turn out the light for the night, something new would show up. I think I eventually went to bed around one AM. Thankfully, the neighbors tolerate our “hobby.”

Spotted Peppergrass Moth, Eustixia pupula.

Among the novel finds in the front yard was one of the crocus geometer moths in the genus Xanthotype. They cannot be identified to species from photos, so we will settle for genus.

Crocus geometer moth, Xanthotype sp.

Another interesting moth was a Yellow-collared Slug Moth, Apoda y-inversum. Their helmet-shaped caterpillars apparently feed only on the leaves of hickory trees.

Yellow-collared Slug Moth, Apoda y-inversum.

All of my moth observations for the week can be found here on iNaturalist.

Packard's Wave, Cyclophora packardi, and a pygmy leafmining moth, Stigmella sp., immediately below it.

Next year I will try and schedule public events, as we did last year on Fort Leavenworth, for both a variety of habitat, and as a way to introduce others to the magic of moths. I hope all of you were able to enjoy this year’s edition of National Moth Week wherever it found you.

Zeller's Macalla, Macalla zelleri, a type of pyralid moth. Wish we had more, as their caterpillars feed on Poison Ivy.

National Moth Week Recap for Colorado Springs

Sunset rains near Chico Basin Ranch

Better late than never, here is how National Moth Week in El Paso, County, Colorado, faired this year. Two events sponsored by Mile High Bug Club were scrubbed due to the record rainfall for the month of July. We did sneak in our kickoff at Chico Basin Ranch on Saturday, July 22, but the potential for dangerous lightning forced cancellation of the July 26 event at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, and the July 29 event in Rock Creek Canyon at the May Museum of Natural History. A misunderstanding with park staff created an "extra" event at Cheyenne Mountain on Tuesday, July 25.

Five-spotted Sphinx Moth at Cheyenne Mountain State Park

Chico Basin Ranch is a working cattle ranch that sprawls across the El Paso/Pueblo County line for 87,000 acres. Our lights were set up in El Paso County at "Bell Grove," a grove of cottonwoods with a nearby wetland, a true oasis in an otherwise heavily grazed prairie habitat. The chief obstacles between the three stations were cow patties and the odd fallen branch. Bell Mead, Tim Leppek, and Tim and Zach Vogel furnished the blacklights, white lights, and sheets that go into your average night of moth observation. Our club set-ups vary from "McGuyvered" to highly sophisticated.

Male Ten-lined June Beetle, with two tiny dung beetles behind it, and a variegated mud-loving beetle top right, at Chico Basin Ranch

We were initially inundated with hundreds of rove beetles, scarab beetles, click beetles, and variegated mud-loving beetles, plus water scavenger beetles and a lovely Nicrophorus sp. burying beetle.

Burying beetle at Chico Basin Ranch

Part of the fascination with "mothing" is seeing what other insects come in. Later in the evening we got predators: damsel bugs, assassin bugs, green lacewings, brown lacewings, a beaded lacewing, mantispids, a real mantis (European Mantis), and spiders.

Beaded lacewing, Lomamyia sp., Chico Basin Ranch

Some of the most attractive and diverse moths were small, like this Garden Tortrix, Clepsis peritana. A member of the leafroller moth family Tortricidae, its caterpillar stage rolls leaves to conceal itself from predators and parasites.

Garden Tortrix moth at Chico Basin Ranch

A good number of moths defy identification, but that takes nothing away from their beauty. This is probably another tortricid moth, in the genus Hystrichophora.

Hystrichophora sp. leafroller moth? Chico Basin Ranch

Some moths have shaggy legs, like this Gray Furcula, Furcula cinerea.

Gray Furcula moth, Chico Basin Ranch

Most moths are designed for camouflage, so away from their usual perches on tree trunks or amid grasses, their subtle beauty is better appreciated. This geometer moth in the genus Digrammia is a great example.

Digrammia sp. geometer moth, Chico Basin Ranch

So is this Pero sp., another type of geometer moth. The tiny red speck near its "shoulders" is a mite. We have noticed many moths are carrying a heavier load of mites this year, and wonder what the reason is. The mites feed on the blood (hemolymph) of the moth, much like ticks on a dog.

Pero sp. geometer moth, Chico Basin Ranch

Some moths use a startle defense tactic to complement their camouflage. They have brightly-colored hind wings, normally concealed, which they flash to startle an enemy before they take flight.

Purslane Moth, Chico Basin Ranch

The Purslane Moth, Euscirrhopterus gloveri, a kind of owlet moth, is one example. Another is Drasteria mirifica.

Drasteria mirifica owlet moth, Chico Basin Ranch

Our July 25 event at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, just south of Colorado Springs and across the street from Fort Carson, was plagued by intermittent rain, but that did not dampen the spirits of the human attendees. We drew several members from the Mile High Bug Club, plus one person who drove all the way from north of Denver. Once the precipitation subsided, moths came in good numbers to our two mercury vapor and blacklight stations, one under the picnic shelter and another under the eaves of a restroom building at the Limekiln trailhead.

Epiblema tripartitana, Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

One had to do a double take at some moths, like Epiblema triparitana, passing itself off as a bird turd. Meanwhile, the little Filbertworm moth, Cydia latiferreana, appeared to be drizzled in molten metal.

Filbertworm Moth, Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

The eutellid moth Paectes abrostolella tends to pose distinctively with its abdomen turned up in the air.

Eutelid moth, Paectes abrostolella, Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

Crashing the party and startling several of us were at least two species of underwing moths, genus Catocala. These giants often stay on the periphery of light stations and may go unnoticed, but these three made a real entrance, flying erratically around the area before settling down. Catocala verilliana was the smaller of the two and C. aholibah likely the larger species.

Aholibah Underwing, Catocala aholibah, Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

Most moths are maddeningly difficult to identify because of individual variation within the species and overlap in appearance with other species. Cutworm moths in the genus Apamea, family Noctuidae, are a prime example. We think this one is a Yellowheaded Cutowrm, Apamea amputatrix.

Yellowheaded Cutworm? Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

Maybe the most spectacular moth of the night was found resting on a window of the restroom building by Zach Vogel. The Straight-lined Looper moth, Pseudeva purpurigera, is certainly a stunning creature, complete with "mohawk" tufts of scales and hairs on its thorax and abdomen. The "horns" on its face are actually mouthparts called palps.

Straight-lined Looper moth

Among the non-moths were water scavenger beetles (family Hydrophilidae), weevils (family Curculionidae), brown lacewings (family Hemerobiidae), and lurking predators like the Masked Hunter, Reduvius personatus, a type of assassin bug.

Masked Hunter assassin bug, Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

The "after party" was once again rewarding as well, turning up some interesting organisms at the lights around the visitor center and the adjoining parking lot. The biggest surprise was a Plains Spadefoot, a type of toad, strategically huddled beneath a lamp post to catch falling insect prey.

Plains Spadefoot Toad, Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

On that post was a short-horned walkingstick, Parabacillus sp. Walkingsticks are not uncommon, but are seldom seen because they are so cryptic.

Shorth-horned walkingstick, Cheyenne Mountain St. Pk.

We made our way towards the exits a little after midnight, much like this Banded Sunflower Moth, Cochylis hospes. Here's hoping we can have a full complement of activities during next year's National Moth Week, maybe at some new locations.

Remembering Moth Week 2025

Yes, I am terribly behind in making public my sightings of insects, arachnids, and other wildlife this year. I finally have my observations for National Moth Week 2025 loaded onto iNaturalist, but I will share some of them here in this post.

Zebra Conchylodes Moth, Eddyville, Kentucky.

Heidi was generous enough to secure us tickets to the Coldplay concert in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, so we spent almost the entirety of the week in that area of the country. We began in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. When we arrived, the weather was rainy and not at all conducive to looking for insects, but it was also the day before the start of National Moth Week.

This Pink-shaded Fern Moth was the first of its kind I'd ever seen.

We stayed at a small rental house near Eddyville, Kentucky, surrounded by deciduous forest. The first night, we simply left the front porch light on, and looked at the few insects that flew in, using the awning over the porch as convenient cover from the showers.

This Lost Owlet moth was also new to me.

The subsequent two nights were better. We put out our blacklight the second night, under the carport by a large metal garage building. The building had its own, motion-activated light, which helped draw more bugs to our sheet. The landscape was still quite wet, however.

Tulip-tree Beauty, a large geometer moth, was common at our lights....

....but harder to see on a tree trunk!

We debated whether to turn on the blacklight for our third and final night in Eddyville, but I decided against it. We did turn on a light over the back porch, though, and that attracted a good number of insects, including moths.

A Posturing Arta moth, posturing.

As we headed south, we entered Tennessee, and stopped at the lovely Cedar Pond Picnic Area. The sun had broken through permanently by now, so there was more insect activity. Around the pond were a couple of overlooks, and at one of those we startled a butterfly off a pile of scat from some mammal’s recent visit. On closer inspection, we noticed there was also a Nessus Sphinx Moth taking advantage of the fresh dung.

Nessus Sphinx moth enjoying(?) fresh dung.

While we were in Nashville, we stayed at a hotel that did not permit us to do any blacklighting. Plus, there was the concert itself. If you have never been to a stadium concert for your favorite band, I recommend the experience. Highly exhilarating, and worth the expense.

Deep Yellow Euchlaena Moth, Giant City State Park, Illinois.

From Nashville we headed west to southern Illinois, an area rich in both biodiversity, and protected natural areas in which to enjoy it. There are wildlife refuges, state parks, and other places that have grassroots support from local friends groups, resulting in excellent maintenance and outstanding sources of firsthand knowledge.

Rosy Maple Moth.

We decided to visit Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge on the way to our destination of Giant City State Park. The visitor center was being remodeled, and it was about to close for the day, but we met a couple who volunteer there. They were friendly, and very helpful. Exploring the exterior of the building, I found a beautiful Rosy Maple Moth, still hanging out by a light it had been drawn to the previous night.

Caterpillars, like this one of a tussock moth, count, too, during National Moth Week. Lower Cache River, Illinois.

Jennifer Randolph, the naturalist and nature center manager at Giant City State Park had invited me to give a presentation on moths for her volunteers and anyone else interested, so we stayed at a cabin in the park for three nights.

The "working" part of our vacation, presenting on moths at Giant City State Park.

The first two nights we set up a blacklight on our cabin porch, and were rewarded with a spectacular variety and quantity of insects. The cabins are basically duplexes (front to back) offering comfortable accommodations for guests, and situated far enough apart that you are not disturbing your neighbors with quiet nighttime activities.

The Bad-wing is actually a real beauty.

On our last night, we set up our lights a fair distance away at a picnic shelter elsewhere in the park. There was a pole light by the shelter that complemented our dim white light and portable blacklight. We did not see many species different from what we had at our cabin, but there were some notable exceptions.

A large and lovely Azalea Sphinx.

On our drive back home, we stopped for a rest, rather randomly, at a Casey’s store in New Florence, Missouri. When I glanced up as we pulled into our parking spot, I could hardly believe my eyes. I blurted out an excited “Oooh, oooh!,” and pointed, wide-eyed, at the enormous female Imperial Moth perched on the wall beneath a light.

Imperial Moth, female.

Moth Week could have ended there and I would have been happy, but we got home to Leavenworth, Kansas in time to set up our blacklight in the front yard for the final night, July 27. A few more species were added, and then it was over.

Unidentified dagger moth, genus Acronicta, Leavenworth, Kansas.

All of my observations can be seen at the hyperlink in the first paragraph of this blog post. Meanwhile, Heidi’s observations can be found here. We almost always see different species, even in the same place. Plus, her photos are usually better.

Linden Prominent moth was a new visitor to our Leavenworth, Kansas yard.

While there is an official National Moth Week, almost any time of the year can be its own moth week. There are still moths flying here in Leavenworth, at least until the first hard freeze. Turn on your porch light and see what lives in your own neighborhood.

Basswood Leafroller Moth, Leavenworth, Kansas.

NOTE: In the current, highly-charged political atmosphere, I strongly suggest navigating friends group websites for recreation areas, national parks, wildlife refuges, and other properties operated by the federal government, to avoid being subjected to biased and irrelevant content. Thank you.