Moth Week 2026 by Phone

I am so far behind in uploading camera photos to my computer and external hard drives that I literally “phoned it in” for National Moth Week, July 18-26. The photos in this post were taken with my iPhone 14. I promise that eventually I will have camera photos added to most of my observations posted on iNaturalist.

Our set-up at Atchison State Fishing Lake.

Officially, according to the current status on iNat for the Moth Week project in Kansas, I finished with a little over 90 species of moths in 234 observations. That was better than I expected. June is typically a more productive month for moth diversity here in northeast Kansas, USA. I am also not very proficient in identifying moths. I must thank the very knowledgeable and generous experts on iNaturalist for helping me out.

Suzuki's Promalactis Moth

Linden Prominent.

I began the week by putting out our blacklight in the front yard, near the giant Pin Oak tree that is probably responsible for feeding most of our insect diversity, both literally and figuratively. The weather the entire week was mostly hot, and vastly more humid than we usually experience here, so that was in our favor.

White-lined Sphinx from the back yard.

Two days later, on July 20, I switched to the back yard. We now have an outlet on the exterior of our detached garage, so I also plugged in a bright white light. We usually use a lightweight Jackery generator to run both the blacklight and a terribly dim LED white floodlight. The brighter light with the traditional bulb drains the generator in less than a couple of hours, compared to the LED. I welcome suggestions for a brighter white light that will run longer through the Jackery.

Heidi spotted this Curved-ribbon moth, Dinumma deponens on the door to the garage. This species is native to Asia.

It is surprising how different the results can be between our two yards. The backyard includes overhanging branches of a Silver Maple in the neighbor’s yard, plus a strip of mostly native herbaceous plants like White Snakeroot, goldenrod, Coreopsis, and coneflower, some of which Heidi planted, some of which is volunteering.

Maple Looper moth.

We also have volunteer Eastern Redbud, Eastern Black Walnut, hackberry, and young Pin Oaks planted by the resident squirrels. Our backyard “lawn” features sedges, plantain, LOTS of violets (the ornamental variety), clover, wood sorrel, and other non-native species.

Walnut Catoptilia moth.

Heidi decided we should try blacklighting out of town, at the Atchison State Fishing Lake in Atchison County, Kansas, so on July 21, we gave it a try. As expected, we were initially inundated with midges from the nearby lake. Caddisflies and aquatic beetles also showed up in large numbers. I think I will wear a mask next time we are anywhere near water, to avoid inhaling the smaller insects.

Heidi found this freshly-emerged Honey Locust Moth on the ground, then put it on a tree trunk where the insect fully inflated its wings.

While we were waiting for things to simmer down at the lights, we looked around the forest edges, and managed to find a few moths that way, too, along with the odd beetle, spider, or other nocturnal creature.

A Crocus Geometer moth, species unknown, Atchison State Fishing Lake.

We did not get back home until nearly two o’clock the next morning, but it was well worth the trip, and we will probably try again in the future. There was only one tent in the campground, and only two other vehicles came along. No one bothered us, though it helped that we were there on a weekday and not a weekend.

Hagen's Sphinx really does have this lovely mossy green tinge to it.

The night of July 24, I decided to be lazy and merely turn on the front porch light. Again, it is surprising what will come to the porch light versus the blacklight. Then again, at the porch light there are usually fewer numbers of insects, and I can concentrate on individual specimens.

A very shiny micro moth, Homosetia argentinotella, at the front porch light.

This is where I often find unique “micro” moths. Indeed, I added at least one new one to our home list of fauna and flora. I encourage everyone who participates in National Moth Week, or who routinely blacklights for insects, to pay special attention to micros. You could easily document something new to your county, state, or even the country.

A male White-marked Tussock Moth on the side of our house during the day.

Saturday evening, July 25, after a wonderful dinner at a local Italian restaurant, I walked through downtown Leavenworth and discovered several moths that were still present on storefronts, having been attracted to lights the night before.

This Maple Zale moth is not so well camouflaged on a windowsill in downtown Leavenworth.

I was secretly hoping to find a Black Witch in one of the recessed alcoves, but no luck. There have been records of that giant subtropical moth in the Kansas City area, but not yet this year.

Virginia Creeper Sphinx from downtown Leavenworth.

From downtown, I walked up to my in-laws’ home and set up the blacklight in their back yard, something we hadn’t done in years. It was a near total bust. We were overwhelmed by caddisflies, literally thousands of them.

Spotted Phosphila Moth.

Ironically, away from the light I found a nice specimen of the Spotted Phosphila Moth, Phosphila miselioides. That was the highlight of the night, and we packed it in early.

An unidentified plume moth by our front porch during the day.

We ended the week on July 26 by setting up the blacklight in the front yard again, and shining the bright white light onto a sheet of foamcore in the back yard (we need another sheet). Naturally, some of the nicer moths I was only able to get photos of just after midnight. I may cheat a little and backdate a camera photo or two for moths that I know I saw prior to the closing bell. That’s allowed, right?

Yellow-winged Oak Leafroller moth at front yard blacklight.

I swear I saw this Painted Lichen Moth flying behind the sheet before midnight. Honest!

I hope you had success in your own Moth Week adventures, or that you will consider participating in future years. It is truly wonderful, fascinating, and sometimes challenging experience. It is even better with a small party of other excited people.

Lordi Marker Prairie Bioblitz

Heidi and I participated for the fifth consecutive year in the annual bioblitz conducted by the Missouri Prairie Foundation, on June 6-7, 2026. This year it was at the Lordi Marker Prairie, which is adjacent to some other protected prairie acreage, at least one of which is under the ownership of Missouri Department of Conservation. The area is south-southwest of Sedalia, Missouri, in Pettis County.

Per our usual duties, we led a bug walk each day, and deployed a blacklight at night on Saturday.

The turnout for these events is always excellent, and diverse, with people of all ages and ethnicities gathering in a welcoming space.

Once again, the weather turned out to be better than expected, though those people who tent camped on the property did experience thunderstorms and showers in the middle of the night, early Sunday morning.

An iPhone 14 photo of a Margined Leatherwing beetle on yarrow.

Upon arriving, we were a bit startled by how many flowers were blooming. Especially abundant was New Jersey Tea, but the flowers seemed to attract relatively few insects except for beetles. The Margined Leatherwing, Chauliognathus marginatus, was one of the most abundant of insects, as is usually the case in early June in this part of the country. The Dark Flower Scarab, Euphoria sepulchralis, was also common.

Dark Flower Scarab, Euphoria sepulchralis, on New Jersey Tea.

One of the highlights of our visit was seeing a couple of Regal Fritillary butterflies, Argynnis idalia, formerly Speyeria idalia, flitting from flower to flower in the distance. This is a vulnerable, if not threatened, prairie-dependent insect, which feeds on the leaves of violets in the caterpillar stage. Its presence here indicates a high-quality habitat, even if “reclaimed” from its history as a hayfield. I can apparently show you this species, despite its conservation status.

Regal Fritillary leaving a flower.

There were different group leaders for butterflies, and for bees, and it proved something of a challenge to document many of those pollinator species. They were there, but widely scattered and difficult to intercept. We had somewhat better luck, if only because we had few taxonomic constraints. Anything insect or arachnid was fair game.

An immature White-banded Crab Spider, Misumenoides formosipes, waits in ambush on a flower.

One of the bee experts joined us on Sunday morning, and furnished participants with vials, and nets, they could use to capture specimens and bring them back to show everyone. This worked very well, and we will adopt this strategy for future outings.

Late instar nymph of a Broad-winged Sedge Grasshopper.

Our sharp-eyed and curious party members secured some truly exciting finds. Chief among them were nymphs, and a couple of adults, of the Broad-winged Sedge Grasshopper, Stethophyma celatum. I had never heard of it, either! In fact, I wrongly identified it as a species in the genus Chloealtis, when it doesn’t even belong in the same subfamily. Someone on iNaturalist corrected my repeatedly, which caused me to consult some grasshopper experts I know personally, and they confirmed it. I then apologized to the iNat person for doubting them.

Adult Broad-winged Sedge Grasshopper.

This grasshopper is another prairie obligate denizen, and a significant record.

Another unique species was a large fulgorid planthopper, Cyrpoptus belfragei, pictured above. It looks like a cross between a spittlebug (we saw plenty of evidence of those, too), and a cicada.

As a precaution for potential severe weather, we simply hung the blacklight on the bigtop tent.

Blacklighting produced some cool bugs, too. My favorite was probably a Bruner’s Earth-boring Scarab Beetle, Bolbercerosoma bruneri, that disappeared as quickly as we had uncovered it in a fold at the bottom of the tent flap.

Bruner's Earth-boring Scarab Beetle.

We also documented a vulnerable moth species, which I cannot, in good conscience, disclose its identity. There are enough unscrupulous collectors and dealers that it would put this population at risk of anihilation. Suffice that this prairie exceeds expectations for flora and fauna.

Another interesting moth, the Bog Glyph, Deltote bellicula.

While I am a member of, and volunteer for, the Missouri Prairie Foundation, I am not being compensated for singing its praises. This is one of those rare organizations that pays attention to details, and recognizes the importance of contributions from all demographics, including Indigenous peoples. It works with landowners over the long term to secure protection for habitat in perpetuity.

A longhorned beetle, Batyle suturalis, on a flower.

Those human relationships, between all the volunteers at the bioblitz, and between the nonprofit and private property owners, are what we need to promote across our entire country. It is becoming clear that when left to political institutions, little is truly sacred, and even less is enduring.

Spangled Pelochrista moth, Pelochrista scintillana, was common.

All observations from the bioblitz can be found here on iNaturalist. Please explore iNaturalist projects to find bioblitzes near you, and participate in them. I guarantee you will make new friends, have a great time, and probably make some important discoveries, be they personal or scientific.

Another Micro Mystery

One way that I find insects in winter is by scraping off paper wasp nests that have been abandoned by the past season’s generation of wasps, and placing the nests in a transparent container. What usually happens is that one or more kinds of insects will eventually emerge from these nests. Allow me to share one example.

Dibrachys sp.

I started collecting recent, abandoned paper wasp nests (Polistes metricus is the common species around our home here in Leavenworth, Kansas, USA) when I saw a social media post by Sloan Tomlinson (@thatwaspguy on Instagram). He had reared a type of small parasitoid wasp as a result: the eulophid wasp Elasmus polistis. That species is a parasitoid of the brood (larvae, pupae) of paper wasps. Cool. I could add another species to my home biodiversity list.

So many tiny wasps!

I was excited to find, in January of 2022, that this method had worked, as I saw tiny wasps running around inside the container with the old paper wasp nest. Photographing the little creatures, and then cropping those images, it became apparent that what I had was not what I expected. I was left with a mystery that took me awhile to solve, even though I’m fairly good at researching.

I eventually found a journal article chronicling a study of various parasitoids of paper wasps collected from nests in Missouri, the state immediately adjacent to Kansas. In fact, Leavenworth is right across the Missouri River from Missouri. One of the creatures listed was a wasp in the family Pteromalidae. They had only eighty-seven specimens, though. I was looking at hundreds by the time they finished emerging.

Male wasps attempting to mate with a female.

The species name given was Dibrachys cavus. More recently, it has been revealed to be a “species complex,” and has a new assigned name: Dibrachys microgastri. It represents one of *three* species, any one of which could potentially be my creature. Collectively, they are parasitoids of pretty much any insect with complete metamorphosis. That makes it difficult to determine exactly which one I have. Even placing a specimen under a microscope might not be enough magnification for these two-millimeter wasps.

Dibrachys is unusual for a single genus of wasps in having such a wide range of potential hosts. At least some species, or perhaps most, are hyperparasitoids of tachinid flies and braconid or ichneumon wasps that are themselves parasitoids of moth pupae. This makes me wonder if these minions are part of this puzzle that I documented in 2022.

I find unsolved mysteries intriguing, and delight in them even if I never reach any verifiable conclusion. There will always be *something* that defies explanation in the natural world.

This little cobweb weaver spider may have been making a killing, literally.

Sources:Gibson, Gary A.P., John T. Huber, and James B. Woolley (eds). 1997. Annotated Keys to the Genera of Nearctic Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). Ottawa, Ontario: NRC Research Press. 794 pp.
Peters, R.S. & Baur, H. 2011. A revision of the Dibrachys cavus species complex (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae). Zootaxa, 2937 (1), 1-30.
Whiteman, Noah K. and Brett H.P. Landwer. 2000. Parasitoids Reared From Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) Nests in Missouri, With a State Record of Elasmus polistis Burk (Hymenoptera: Elasmidae). J Kansas Ent Soc 73(3): 186-188.

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.