I searched and didn’t see a Moth Week post for 2024 yet. Moth Week runs from July 20th to July 28th. I am planning on 1/2 day vacation days next week to allow me to stay up a little longer and do some mothing. Likely to add to my backlog of 700 photos from the past week to go through.
This morning I had 4 White Furcula Moths.
An Oldwife Underwing in a cold temp suppressed effort on the sheets. 
If I weren’t half-asleep from attending a mothing event last night and yet also about to head out to check the two moth traps I set last night, I’d respond with more pretty pictures and a rhapsody about how wonderful it is to see these gorgeous creatures up close. In other words, more later (after more coffee, definitely) and thank you for starting this thread!
(There must have been at least 40 people at the Moth Ball last night, many of whom I knew from iNat.)
ETA: More than 60 people attended.
While my attempts at mothing have so far always remained unsuccessful (the moths don’t seem to be interested in my light source, but I generally attract the mosquitos of the entire continent), I have seen some very stunning caterpillars at least:
The most fashionable one: Cucullia verbasci
And a little snake: Proserpinus proserpina
Wow that second caterpillar is crazy looking!!!
Lifer Pandorus Sphinx last night. Not even upset my dog woke me up an hour earlier than I intended to check out the sheets.
Lifer Shining Dichomeris Moth
Harris’ Three-Spot
Small-eyed Sphinx
Do they have to be from this week?
I have a couple of Macaria
I don’t know if I’ll be getting any moths specifically during Moth Week; the light pollution in my neighborhood means that my balcony light is competing with many other lights. Most of my North Carolina moths, like the two Macaria shown, were encountered in the daytime by happening to disturb them from their resting places.
One interesting and underrated way to get some moth observations is to look for leaf mines! Leaf miners are not all moths, but many are - they are everywhere, and a lot of people overlook them as potential iNat observations. Make sure to note the species of plant it was found on - if necessary, make a separate observation for the host plant and link it to the leafmine observation. Here are a couple moth species I would likely have never added to my list if I was only looking for adult moths:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_miner
I’d encourage folks to try attracting some moths using a blacklight (or really any light) at night, especially those who have a macro lens or a camera/phone that can take close photos. You can really rack up a lot of species. You don’t necessarily need a blacklight, or a white sheet - you can just stick a lamp with a bright bulb on your porch/patio, next to your fence, etc. and insects will come to it. It can be helpful to put some kind of sheet on the ground so it’s easier to spot tiny beetles and things that crawl up to the light, but almost any light in any location outside will work - even just your porch lights. It is a fun way to observe at night, and you’re almost guaranteed to find things you’d never find during the day. I have recorded over 1000 species of arthropods just at UV lights in my urban back yard, and still find new-to-me species almost every time I turn on the lights.
Looking forward to meeting up with some local iNatters over the next week, as the local moth enthusiasts are setting up some light stations at various locations around the city for moth week :)
Yay moths!
What is that last moth?!?!? Great photo.
Clydonopteron sacculana - Trumpet Vine Moth - found across much of the midwest-southeast US. A wild-looking moth for sure!
I’m not in the USA, so I’m not sure if Moth Week really applies to me, but I wanted to say that you guys have posted some great moth pictures on this thread.
I did have one in my trap today that really impressed me: The Lappet, Gastropacha quercifolia. I’ve never knowingly seen one of these before. I say ‘knowingly’, because if I’d have seen one away from my trap I’d have probably thought it was an old leaf.
Lappets are such unique moths!! It may be called National Moth Week, but it is intended to be worldwide.
I have seen too many leaf mine observations that stay forever at “Winged and once-winged insects” even when the host plant is identified.
Okay, “Moth-related Questions”:
Renia moths. They all look the same, and every Wikipedia entry has the same line: “The larvae feed on organic matter, including dead leaves.” Only one has more detail: R. flavipunctalis – “The larvae feed on organic matter, including dead leaves of deciduous trees.” The flight seasons mostly overlap, even among those who have only one generation per year.
So, where is the niche partitioning or other differences that make these distinct species?
For North American observations, there is a project “Leafminers of North America” that will help leafmine observations be reviewed by an identifier. There is a similar “Galls of North America” project. I’d also suggest making sure the appropriate annotations are used, e.g. Leafmine, Gall, etc. - you can do this for other peoples’ observations if you’re looking to help out.
These are my moths of today.
Lmao, it is raining everyday for the whole week where I am. Zero mothing done whatsoever.
Speaking of raining, it was raining here much of the week, until yesterday afternoon. I desperately needed to get out, so I went to a local lake where I’ve been before, but never to make observations in July.
Lo! There are cool caterpillars!
A Cecropia Moth. These are just plain wild! And big!
A Norman’s Quaker. I don’t think I’ve found a caterpillar of this species before.
One of my favorites - a Milkweed Tussock Moth.
An American Dagger.
And tonight’s not going to be rainy, so I can set the traps. Yay!
Hmm did not get the answer to question do it have to be from this week?
