National Moth Week 2024 Public Events Project for Greater Austin, TX
I hope those of you that attended one or more of our National Moth Week 2024 public events had as much fun as Wendy (@wendelia), Curtis (@cmeckerman), and I (@jcochran706) did. It was great to see everyone who came out for moths and other nocturnal insects.
We were lucky to have access to Concordia University thanks to Caitlyn (@edwards_plateau), especially since we set up under cover during an absolute downpour (and still got moths!). And, we explored one of the newest preserves in Austin, Red Bluff Nature Preserve, with the help of John Davis (@jdavisz). Two favorite localities of mine finished off our week, Roy G Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park and Bastrop State Park.
I put together a Collection Project for our National Moth Week 2024 public events. A summary of the numbers: 19 observers, almost 2000 moth observations, and over 300 moth species. That's quite good! I hope this inspires more people to join us next year.
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/national-moth-week-2024-gatx-events
Comments
@riverahlquist, @calebhelsel, @rkostecke, @pufferchung, @sbeep, @cmeckerman, @wendelia, @jgw_atx, @gcwarbler, @paige186-gwmn, @braxton22, @mikef451, @liam_o_connor, @jnorris, @sawwhet, @edwards_plateau, @centratex, @rmhernandez
Amazing job everyone! What a week!!! Almost 2,000 observations for just 19 observers is INCREDIBLE! Does anyone have any other parks they would like to explore for moths?? Otherwise I will usually always default to my beloved state parks.
Thanks for organizing these! I had a great time at some parks I’d never visited before and got a ton of new-to-me species along with some pretty cool not-moths (sorry) and one very painful new bite from an assassin bug.
"Opossum beetle" - only the 2nd observation in ATX area
(Potential) 1st live photo of a Clerid beetle
"Piglet bug"
Net-Winged Beetle
I hope we can do this kind of meetup periodically, outside of moth week and CNC. I talked to Jack and I think it might be worth having an informal email list so we can get broader participation, including folks who may not be on iNat regularly.
BTW I posted some photos to the “Entomological Traps” Facebook group, and we got a Like from the National Moth Week FB account - thought that was pretty cool! 🤓
I was especially happy to visit the Red Bluff Nature Preserve in Austin, and look forward to seeing it in the daylight!
I can't remember any mothing event where Hydrilla Leafcutter Moth was the most often documented species! Ha! All the others in the top 12 or 15 species are among the "usual suspects" at this season. Lot of fun!
Great job! Maybe I need to plan a roadtrip to join you all for one of these events in the future!
@cmeckerman has an AWESOME article about him in the Texas Monthly about his mothing in the Greater Austin area!!! https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/curtis-eckerman-photographer-moth-man/
@cmeckerman is an awesome educator!
@wendelia Excellent, Wendy! Moth man! Love it, and those names tend to stick. Nice article, too, with some great thoughts and quotes from Curtis. Autographing Texas Monthly mags in the ACC lobby?
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