A Little Love and Respect for Moths

It's been a big flap forward for Moths everywhere this past week, as the first ever National Moth Week took place!  Mothing events were held around the country, where people got together to learn more about these weird looking fascinating creatures and to see what moths they could find. 

This Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) showed up at the Red House Garden awhile back.  The picture doesn't do it justice - this thing was enormous!

Mothing is pretty easy - just turn on your porch light at night and see what shows up.  Moth enthusiasts also use special lights and baits to attract more moths.  I did the porch light thing the other night and went outside to see what I could find.  I honestly thought it would be a little unpleasant and, well, buggy with bugs flying all around, but it was actually pretty fascinating to see what was attracted to the porch light (and thankfully nothing bit me).

A moth that was attracted to my porch light

Moths and butterflies are from the same order of insects (Lepidoptera).  I was surprised to learn that there are actually many, many more species of moths than butterflies.  (All these things that you never knew were out there in the night.) Most moths are nocturnal, but there are a few that fly during the day.

Here are two examples of moths that fly during the day:
TOP:  Snowberry Clearwing moth (often called the Bumblebee moth)
BOTTOM:  Hummingbird Clearwing moth 

So what's the difference between a butterfly and a moth? 
Like previously mentioned, most moths are nocturnal.  And, unlike butterflies, most moths have thick and fuzzy bodies.  They also don't have little knobs at the end of their antennae like butterflies.

moth attracted to my porch light

Another difference is that butterflies usually rest with their wings held up above them, while moths rest with their wings spread out flat.

a resting moth

There are several other less noticeable differences.  An interesting one is that moths are the ones who make cocoons of silk - butterfly pupae have a hard, smooth skin called a chrysalis.

Are moths pests?
Moths are actually very beneficial.  They are important as pollinators, and they are a large part of the food chain.  Also it is the silk moth (Bombyx mori) that produces silk.  These creatures that are so rarely noticed do deserve a little love and respect!

Now moth caterpillars, on the other hand, are a very different story as we gardeners know...