Introduction to How to Attract and Identify Moths.

Friday June 9, 2023 @ 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm

A Moth Night – An Introduction to How to Attract and Identify Moths
When: Friday June 9, 2023

Leader: Alan Macnaughton 

Time: 9 pm – 11:15 pm plus Saturday morning June 10 at 7 am to open Moth traps for ID, Photos and Release

(possible extra Moth Nights June 8-11 and Rain Dates TBA )

Where: Grey Sauble Conservation Administration Centre and Arboretum, 237897 Inglis Falls Road, RR 4, Owen Sound, Ontario N4K 5N6

Alan Macnaughton has good equipment and techniques for attracting moths, and he can show other people how to do it. He will set up several stations and use several lights (black light) and bait (rotting bananas). It will be an excellent opportunity to learn various methods of attracting moths. 

We will want to identify and record the moths as they arrive, perhaps by uploading observations to the www.iNaturalist.ca website — it can identify observations to species with at least 90% accuracy. 

Last year’s moth night was a wild evening with close to 100 species, including 7 species of the charismatic sphinx moths. 

This year we are holding the event in mid-June, prime season for silk moths — the largest moths in our area. Bring either phones or regular cameras. 

To register – so we can contact you if there is any change in plans, please contact John Dickson via email  jwdickso@gmail.com 

Extra information – Guests of OSFN – Area members of the Toronto Entomologists’ Association (TEA)  may be joining us.

Equipment –
Bring cameras or phones for taking pictures and perhaps some transparent pill bottles to temporarily capture the moths for handing around to others before they are released. Phones are often best because they may have an internet connection (is this possible in the park?) to allow uploading observations to the www.iNaturalist.ca website for automated (image recognition software) species identification. Also, if they happen to have it, bring the Leckie and Beadle book, Peterson Field Guide to the Moths of Northeastern North America. One of the lights is bright and some people might want sunglasses when they get near it.