My
grandson Max has a butterfly problem. At 3 years of age, the boy has
recently become so consumed with the whole notion of the large-winged insects that
he’ll drop whatever he may be doing at any given moment to give chase. I, of
course, have been doing everything I can to encourage and enable the habit
while interjecting learning along the way.
One nuance I am holding off on for now is the distinction between butterflies and
moths, and for good reason. Max’s fascination is with “butterflies,” and he sees
every creature of a certain body form as a butterfly, even though, as the
numbers play out, 95% of what he’s chasing are moths.
Ohio is home to
around 137 species of butterflies and skippers, as opposed to nearly 3,000-plus
species of moths. We might move on to the differences in a few years, but for
now I’m mostly interested only in keeping his satisfaction rating high.
Catching a bug is catching a bug at Max’s age.
On our
list of things to do before the summer ends is setting up a “moth lighting” in
the backyard. With days growing shorter and darkness soon to fall before
bedtime for the boy, my plan is to hang a white sheet from the swing set and
fix the beam of a black light upon it. I’m certain that within minutes of our
setup, we’ll have a number of wonders coming right to us instead of us chasing
them endlessly across the yard.
Kristin Lorson holds a nonliving “collected” specimen of a male Western (Grant’s) Hercules Beetle. A type of rhinoceros beetle, the horn-like structure on its head is used to spar with other males or to gain a mate.John C. Lorson
One of the
great things about moth lighting is the practice causes no harm to the
insects. We can simply observe, photograph and then shake the sheet to send
them on their way. Furthermore, we can identify them in the field using the
fabulous and free “Moths of Ohio Field Guide” from the Ohio Division of
Wildlife (downloadable through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
website) or wait until some rainy day to take a deeper dive into the pictures
of our “catch,” including figuring out which caterpillar each species of moth
comes from.
Another
big bonus of a moth lighting adventure is the other insects that may be drawn
by the light to land on your sheet. My wife Kristin and I witnessed a
“jackpot” of this type a few weeks ago while camped on the edge of a canyon in
Southern Utah. Some nearby campers had set up a moth lighting as darkness fell, and within a few minutes, they were hooting and hollering over the enormous
Western (Grant’s) Hercules Beetles visiting their site.
A species of rhinoceros
beetle, this character can reach almost 2.5 inches in length, including,
on the male, a giant, bifurcated (two-piece) horn. Southern Ohio is home to the Eastern
variety of the same creature, an equally impressive beast.
Get out and try your own moth lighting. Any
white sheet will work. And while a black light may be preferred, a bright
flashlight or spotlight can work just as well. Let me know if you find anything
spectacular.
If you have comments on this column or questions about the natural world, write The Rail Trail Naturalist, P.O. Box 170, Fredericksburg, OH 44627, or email jlorson@alonovus.com. You also can follow along on Instagram @railtrailnaturalist.
