Shining a light on moths

When I first arrived at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, I was greeted by thousands of mayflies. This may be your nightmare, but to me, it was thrilling.  

Some would say my study species for the summer, the monarch butterfly, is much more charismatic than mayflies.  

I got to work the day after I arrived. Not on monarchs—that would have to wait until the monarch butterflies actually arrived in Michigan, in about a month. 

Meanwhile, I enjoyed the incredible biodiversity KBS had to offer. Getting out into the field meant seeing all sorts of insects, many of which I was seeing for the first time. Every other weekend, people from my lab hosted a lightsheeting session to look for moths. After dark, we went out and hung up a white sheet, which we shined a blacklight on to attract insects. While I had a fair amount of knowledge about moths, I hadn’t seen many in person.  

Our first moth visitor flew out of the dark and onto the sheet: a Virginia ctenucha, ironically a day-flying species. The sheet was quickly populated with small caddisflies while other insects began to fly in. I used the opportunity to practice my ID skills but eventually pulled out my moth field guide after a particular geometer stumped me.

This may have been a mistake; my book was soon filled with caddisflies. Though we saw many fantastic moths and other insects, one moth stole the show: a small-eyed sphinx. 

After the first session, attendance plummeted. This was understandable; staring at bugs in the middle of the night isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time. I started going early to help set up, and over the weeks, we built a consistent group of attendees.  

Like the first session, one or two insects usually outshone the others. For some, it was a stout lappet moth, a dazzling golden casebearer, or a boldly colored tiger moth, but for others, it wasn’t a moth at all. We saw huge fish flies, funky ichneumon wasps, and all sorts of caddisflies.  

The time for catching monarchs soon approached. My schedule started to get busier as my project kicked off, and my caterpillars sometimes kept me working into the night. Nonetheless, I continued mothing.  

Every other week may be a bit much, but I think that everyone should try mothing at least once. There are so many incredible insects out there flying when we’re asleep.  

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Cooper Pryor is a student at Mount Holyoke College. During her summer at KBS, her mentor was Ashley Darst in the Haddad Lab.
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