MOTH NIGHT - A Great Southern Event (1)

If you choose to explore the nocturnal biodiversity of moths, here’s a couple of suggestions to minimise your impact, or maximise your contribution to the field.

• Don’t handle the moths, or keep handling to a minimum. Never touch the wings, as the scales necessary for flight are shed easily - meaning the moth will no longer be able to fly if they get rubbed off.
• Once I am finished for the night I turn the light off and give the moths a chance to avoid being prey for the morning birds. If you are going all night (kudos, your stamina is better than mine) you might try to relocate some moths from the sheet to a safe position by gently getting them to hold onto a stick or leaf and placing them in cover.
• All of my observations go onto the iNaturalist website, a huge biodiversity database citizen scientists and experts alike use to record their observations. In Australia your records will go onto the Atlas of Living Australia and become a piece of valid research data, contributing to our understanding of moth biology.
• Check out @possumpete's blog