Beautiful Moths

Greetings, Saturday night I was out conducting my first moth survey of the season in Talbott County. The habitat was a deciduous forest. The largest moths we have in Maryland are in the "Giant Silkmoth" family. We saw the Polyphemus Moth and the Luna Moth on Saturday. The caterpillars of both species feed on a variety of deciduous trees and are common around the state. They are big and beautiful! Polyphemus Moth
Luna Moth
When I conduct moth surveys, I attach 2 ropes between two trees. One rope I hang a white sheet on and the other I hang a black light so that it shines on the sheet. Black lights are really good for attracting nocturnal insects. The insects will land on the sheet and then I photograph them. This is something you can do in your own backyard! I contribute my observations to the Maryland Biodiversity Project. There are over 2600 moth species already documented around the state!

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