National Moth Week approaches!
Hey everyone!
This year has been great for moths! Our state project is approaching 1600 species and I've no doubt we will pass that number within the next month. In a few weeks we will be celebrating National Moth Week. It runs from July 17-25 this year. I will be hosting a Moth Night at Thunderbird Chapel in east Norman on Thursday, July 22, and another at Boiling Springs State Park on Saturday, July 24. Both of these are public events and I hope to see some new people there.
Over the last 3 years we have been doing moth nights at state parks in different parts of the state during National Moth Week. In 2019 we visited Quartz Mountain State Park in southwest Oklahoma and Tulsa's Oxley Nature Center in northeast Oklahoma. In 2020 we visited Beaver's Bend State Park in southeast Oklahoma. So this year we are headed to Boiling Springs State Park in northwest Oklahoma to have at least hosted one moth night in each of the four "quadrants" of Oklahoma. There is a lot of moth diversity in Oklahoma thanks to the biogeographical transitions that occur from the dry highlands of Black Mesa down to the swampy southeast corner of McCurtain County. I really look forward to these "field trips," because I get to see species that don't occur in my familiar area of central Oklahoma.
I would love to see some of you at one of these two events. But even if you're not able to join us, I hope you will submit some moth observations from wherever you are during National Moth Week!
