Mark your calendar!
The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is celebrating National Moth Night on Saturday, July 30 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.--both indoors in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building at 555 Crocker Lane, and outdoors, within a short walking distance.
"Back by popular demand--several people, who are not Lepidopterists--have asked about Moth Night," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum.
It's free, family friendly and open to the public. Inside, visitors will see the Bohart's special moth collection, and outside, visitors will see moths and other insects land on the blacklighting display. It consists of a hanging white sheet, a ultraviolet (UV) light, and a generator.
Folks are invited to bring photos or moth specimens from their house, yard or neighborhood that they would like help in identifying, Yang said.
There will also be a craft activity, cookies, and "hot cocoa for anyone who needs help staying up past their bedtime," Yang quipped.
Back in 2019, before the COVID pandemic, the blacklighting display drew at least 11 different species from five moth families: Tineidae, Tortricidae, Pyralidae, Geometridae, and Noctuidae, according to Bohart associate and "Moth Man" John De Benedictis.
The families represented:
Family Tineidae:
Opogona omoscopa (Opogona crown borer)
Family Tortricidae:
Clepsis peritana
Platynota stultana (omnivorous leafroller)
Cydia latiferreana (filbertworm)
Family Pyralidae:
Achyra rantalis (garden webworm)
Ephestiodes gilvescentella (dusky raisin moth)
Cadra figuliella
Family Geometridae:
Digrammia muscariata
Family Noctuidae:
Spodoptera exigua (beet armyworm)
Spodoptera praefica (western yellow-striped armyworm)
Parabagrotis formais
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, houses a worldwide collection of eight million insects. It also houses a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and a insect-themed gift shop.
Attached Images:
In this 2018 file photo, UC Davis arachnologist Jason Bond checks out the specimens at the Bohart Museum's blacklighting display while "Moth Man" John De Benedictis observes. Bond, the Schlinger Endowed Chair of Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, was recently named associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, fields questions from the Moth Night crowd, in this 2018 file photo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Moth displays, with specimens collected worldwide, are a big attraction at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during Moth Night. That's noted entomologist Richard Bohart in the framed photo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)