{"id":12460,"date":"2019-07-24T09:14:33","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T13:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=12460"},"modified":"2022-03-21T16:49:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T20:49:22","slug":"national-moth-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/","title":{"rendered":"National Moth Week Spotlights Winged Insects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"National
Moth enthusiasts from around the world are likely to try blacklighting during National Moth Week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you ever see Kalamazoo College students hanging sheets by clotheslines suspended between trees on the Quad, they\u2019re not doing laundry. They\u2019re rounding up moths for their entomology class collections in a practice called \u201cblacklighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process emits a black light into the UV spectrum to attract moths, and it\u2019s one of many ways that citizen scientists are likely to celebrate National Moth Week, which is ongoing through Friday.<\/p>\n

According to its website<\/a>, National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, lifecycles and habitats of moths as the public is encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths in backyards, parks and neighborhoods. And don\u2019t let the word \u201cnational\u201d fool you. Since its founding in 2012, National Moth Week has gone global by expanding to all 50 states and 80 countries worldwide.<\/p>\n

\"National
Luna moths, known for their green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots, are common in southwest Michigan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon likely is the more celebrated science-related event this week, moths are interesting to study because they make a \u201cgiant leap\u201d of their own through metamorphosis. The process completely changes their bodies from wormlike caterpillars into winged adults during the cocoon stage. This abrupt change in body plan during development is found in only one-third of all insect groups, Kalamazoo College Biology<\/a> Professor Ann Fraser said, but these groups account for the vast majority of insect species, suggesting this life cycle innovation was a highly successful one.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, \u201cmany caterpillars of moths are a very important food source in the food chain,\u201d and \u201csome scientists use moths as indicators of bigger things going on in the environment,\u201d Fraser said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to see trends with declines in their numbers as indicators of climate change or habitat loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moths definitively are insects because they have six legs and, as adults, they have three body regions consisting of the head, the thorax and the abdomen, Fraser said. Plus, they\u2019re among the most diverse living creatures on Earth with more than 150,000 species including their day-roaming brethren: butterflies.<\/p>\n

\"National
Hawk moths hover around plants and flowers so they commonly are mistaken for hummingbirds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of the more eye-catching varieties of moths in southwest Michigan include hawk moths, which can be mistaken for hummingbirds because they\u2019re about the same size as hummingbirds and hover around plants and flowers, Fraser said. Others include the luna moth known for its green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots. Plainer and more problematic varieties include gypsy moths, which are known as exfoliator pests because they strip trees and plants of their leaves.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can actually spot their poop on the sidewalk,\u201d Fraser said of gypsy moth caterpillars. \u201cFrass is the technical term for it. You see it on the ground, so you know something in the tree is feeding on the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, many hobbyists find collecting moths such as these and others to be fascinating and as easy as leaving a porch light on after dark. Fraser, for example, still remembers collecting a big moth for the first time when she was about 10 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an experience that always stuck with me,\u201d said Fraser, who curates the college\u2019s insect collection that includes cases of pinned moths raised or collected by herself and her predecessor, Professor David Evans. \u201cIt\u2019s always exciting to find the big colorful ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

For advice on how you can study moths, visit nationalmothweek.org<\/a> or email info@nationalmothweek.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you ever see Kalamazoo College students hanging sheets by clotheslines suspended between trees on the Quad, they\u2019re not doing laundry. They\u2019re rounding up moths for their entomology class collections in a practice called \u201cblacklighting.\u201d The process emits a black light into the UV spectrum to attract moths, and it\u2019s one of many ways that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":12475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233,231],"tags":[52,39],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-12460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-students","tag-biology","tag-faculty"],"yoast_head":"\r\nNational Moth Week Spotlights Winged Insects - News and Events<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, lifecycles and habitats of moths as the public is encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National Moth Week Spotlights Winged Insects - News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, lifecycles and habitats of moths as the public is encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-24T13:14:33+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-21T20:49:22+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/07\/National-Moth-Week-blacklighting-at-Quad-1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2980\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2004\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\",\"name\":\"National Moth Week Spotlights Winged Insects - News and Events\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/07\/National-Moth-Week-blacklighting-at-Quad-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-24T13:14:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-21T20:49:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166\"},\"description\":\"National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, lifecycles and habitats of moths as the public is encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/07\/National-Moth-Week-blacklighting-at-Quad-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/07\/National-Moth-Week-blacklighting-at-Quad-1.jpg\",\"width\":2980,\"height\":2004,\"caption\":\"Kalamazoo College students participate in a process called \\\"blacklighting\\\" to gather moths for their entomology class insect collections. 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aria-label=\"archive of category Faculty & Staff\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/faculty-staff\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Faculty & Staff<\/a><a aria-label=\"archive of category Students\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/students\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Students<\/a>","tags_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/biology\/\" rel=\"tag\">biology<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/faculty\/\" rel=\"tag\">faculty<\/a>","social_share_info":"<a data-share=\"facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\" class=\"pl-facebook-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook-f\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\" class=\"pl-twiiter-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-moth-week\/\" class=\"pl-linkedin-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin-in\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a>","wordExcerpt_info":"<figure id=\"attachment_12475\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12475\" style=\"width: 495px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12475\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/07\/National-Moth-Week-blacklighting-at-Quad-1-600x403.jpg\" alt=\"National Moth Week blacklighting at Quad\" width=\"495\" height=\"337\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12475\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moth enthusiasts from around the world are likely to try blacklighting during National Moth Week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you ever see Kalamazoo College students hanging sheets by clotheslines suspended between trees on the Quad, they\u2019re not doing laundry. They\u2019re rounding up moths for their entomology class collections in a practice called \u201cblacklighting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The process emits a black light into the UV spectrum to attract moths, and it\u2019s one of many ways that citizen scientists are likely to celebrate National Moth Week, which is ongoing through Friday.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/nationalmothweek.org\/\">According to its website<\/a>, National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, lifecycles and habitats of moths as the public is encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths in backyards, parks and neighborhoods. And don\u2019t let the word \u201cnational\u201d fool you. Since its founding in 2012, National Moth Week has gone global by expanding to all 50 states and 80 countries worldwide.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12469\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12469\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12469\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/07\/National-Moth-Week-Luna-Moth-300x375.jpg\" alt=\"National Moth Week Luna Moth\" width=\"300\" height=\"375\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12469\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luna moths, known for their green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots, are common in southwest Michigan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although the 50<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon likely is the more celebrated science-related event this week, moths are interesting to study because they make a \u201cgiant leap\u201d of their own through metamorphosis. The process completely changes their bodies from wormlike caterpillars into winged adults during the cocoon stage. This abrupt change in body plan during development is found in only one-third of all insect groups, Kalamazoo College <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/biology\/\">Biology<\/a> Professor Ann Fraser said, but these groups account for the vast majority of insect species, suggesting this life cycle innovation was a highly successful one.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, \u201cmany caterpillars of moths are a very important food source in the food chain,\u201d and \u201csome scientists use moths as indicators of bigger things going on in the environment,\u201d Fraser said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to see trends with declines in their numbers as indicators of climate change or habitat loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moths definitively are insects because they have six legs and, as adults, they have three body regions consisting of the head, the thorax and the abdomen, Fraser said. Plus, they\u2019re among the most diverse living creatures on Earth with more than 150,000 species including their day-roaming brethren: butterflies.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12473\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12473\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12473\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/07\/National-Moth-Week-Hawk-Moth-300x400.jpg\" alt=\"National Moth Week Hawk Moth\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12473\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hawk moths hover around plants and flowers so they commonly are mistaken for hummingbirds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some of the more eye-catching varieties of moths in southwest Michigan include hawk moths, which can be mistaken for hummingbirds because they\u2019re about the same size as hummingbirds and hover around plants and flowers, Fraser said. Others include the luna moth known for its green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots. Plainer and more problematic varieties include gypsy moths, which are known as exfoliator pests because they strip trees and plants of their leaves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can actually spot their poop on the sidewalk,\u201d Fraser said of gypsy moth caterpillars. \u201cFrass is the technical term for it. You see it on the ground, so you know something in the tree is feeding on the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, many hobbyists find collecting moths such as these and others to be fascinating and as easy as leaving a porch light on after dark. Fraser, for example, still remembers collecting a big moth for the first time when she was about 10 years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an experience that always stuck with me,\u201d said Fraser, who curates the college\u2019s insect collection that includes cases of pinned moths raised or collected by herself and her predecessor, Professor David Evans. \u201cIt\u2019s always exciting to find the big colorful ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For advice on how you can study moths, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/nationalmothweek.org\">nationalmothweek.org<\/a> or email <a href=\"mailto:info@nationalmothweek.org\">info@nationalmothweek.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12460"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15025,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12460\/revisions\/15025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12460"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=12460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}