Attracting, photographing, and identifying moths is a fun family activity. All you need are some lights and a sheet! Biologists Sara Zahendra and Kent McFarland went out into McFarland's back yard in Woodstock to spot some different species and talk about the important role moths play in our ecosystem.
There are about 2,500 species of moths in Vermont; many of them documented by dedicated moth watcher Joanne Russo. She joins McFarland and Zahendra on Outdoor Radio to share her knowledge.
Kent McFarland tasted a moth "and it was awful!" He wrote about it on the Vermont Center for Ecostudies blog. He also has a slideshow of the many moths he has photographed in his back yard.
You can see more photos, learn more about moths, and post your sightings at the following links:
- View all the moth sightings reported to iNaturalist Vermont, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life.
- Report your own observations to iNaturalist.
- Moth Photographers Group.
- BugGuide.net.
- iNaturalist Species Pages.
- Moths Of Eastern United States Facebook Group.
- Peterson's Field Guide to Moths of the Northeast.
- Vermont Giant Silkmoth Survey.
- Celebrate National Moth Week - July 22-30.
Outdoor Radio is produced in collaboration with the Vermont Center For Ecostudies with support from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation.
