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Health & Fitness

Moth Night (Better yet Biodiversity Night!)

Join us for Moth Night, come explore the woods with us at night.

This is my first blog for the East Brunswick Patch and I am very excited that I was asked to contribute. I hope to focus on the nature and biodiversity we have in our town.

As President of the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission, I encourage everyone to join the Friends. Not only is it free to join, but our programs and events are free too! You can join through the website at www.friendsebec.com.  The Friends (in concert with the Environmental Commission) run the annual salamander crossing and Butterfly Park and have developed the Community Garden, Moth Nights, Option Green lecture series, worm composters for our schools, Big Tree and Raptor nest surveys and contests, the Beautiful East Brunswick Photography contest, a new Field Guide to the Butterflies of the Butterfly Park,  a new Guide to East Brunswick Parks and so much more. The Friends website is filled with information about nature and the environment in our town and is highly interactive and user friendly. We also work with local Boy and Girl Scouts on Gold and Eagle Scout award projects (please contact us for ideas about projects) and are developing lots of new and innovative programs.  

So, on to my first blog. Our first Moth Night is scheduled for this Friday, May 20, at 8:30 p.m. at Dallenbach Lake (Crystal Springs). The event will only be held if the weather cooperates so check the Patch and the Friends website just to be sure and for a rain date if needed. What is Moth Night and why do we do it? Moth Night is our fun way of seeing what kind of insects are flying at night in our parks and open spaces. It's one of those somewhat crazy things that entomologists love to do, and that everyone will enjoy, insect afficiando or not. And, when you tell your friends and family the next day that you went to Moth Night, you too can share in the looks of curiousity and amazement!

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On Moth Night, we use two different methods to attract insects. The first is a very bright 175 watt mercury vapor light that looks like a regular light bulb to our eyes, but transmits light in a special color spectrum that can be seen by insects and is pretty much irresistible to them. We place the light in front of a white sheet (occasionally stolen from my linen closet....sorry most tolerant wife of mine). Insects that fly toward the light often land on the sheet and can be easily observed and photographed. The second method we use is called Sugaring. Sugaring is a centuries old technique for attracting moths at night that uses a fermented mixture painted on trees. Most entomologists have their own secret recipe (aka concoction) that uses dark beer, rotten bananas, brown sugar and rum as the base mixture and then special and often secret additives. The mixture is then allowed to sit in the sun and ferment for a few days. The fermented mixture is sickly sweet and probably not suitable for an evening cocktail, however, most entomologists do try the various liquid components prior to mixing.  The fermented mix is painted on the trees before sunset. After dark, the painted areas are visited every half hour or so with a bright flashlight to see if anything has been attracted to the mix. On the Friends website there is a great story by the eminent entomologist W.T. Holland about sugaring for moths on a sultry summer evening about 100 years ago. The excitement he conveys about the moths he is finding holds as true today as it did then (at least in this blogging entomologists' humble opinion).  Moth Night also is an opportunity to be outside in our parks at night and enjoy the sights and sounds that we don't often get a chance to explore. So, please join us and the Friends at www.friendsebec.com 

On a moth-related note, I have attached a few photos of a Promethea moth. This is one of our largest moths in East Brunswick and is one of our native Silk Moths. The caterpillars of this moth spin a cocoon that is very easy to find in the late winter and early spring when there are no leaves on the plants they suspend them from. Each spring I collect a few of these and place them in an enclosure (most often in a window between the screen and storm windows so they are essentially outside and can be exposed to the natural elements). As the spring progresses, the beautiful adult moths emerge and are "trapped" by the two windows where they can be easily observed for a few hours and then let go unharmed.  Occasionally, a female will emerge, which is like moth nirvana if you are into these kinds of things. What makes the female emergence so exciting is that they release a pheromone (basically a moth perfume) that is a powerful aphrodisiac for all the males in the area. The moths can apparently detect the pheromones in as little a concentration as one part per trillion and fly upwind until they find the female. Moths are just plain cool!    

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