Moths of Greater Austin, TX's Journal

Welcome to Moths of Greater Austin, TX, an iNaturalist Collection Project to collate moth observations in the Greater Austin, TX region defined by iNaturalist, which includes Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Hayes, Travis, and Williamson counties. The project administrators are Jack Cochran (jcochran706) and Chuck Sexton (gcwarbler). You can read more detailed Bios on our iNaturalist profile pages, but the relevant part here is that we are both moth enthusiasts.

In addition to collecting the Greater Austin moth observations in one place for review, other goals for the project include:

Increasing enthusiasm for observing moths by discussing various techniques to attract and photograph them.

Helping with identification of moths. With approximately 1800 species of moths in the Greater Austin area, putting a name on a moth can be challenging, especially when some are very similar. We’ll provide a list of resources, and tips and tricks, to make the task a bit easier.

Using the project observations to support updates to the proposed “Checklist of the Moths of Central Texas”. More information on the checklist is located at the link below.

https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/gcwarbler/53888-notice-of-intent-a-checklist-of-the-moths-of-central-texas

Good mothing!

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the first day (night?) of National Moth Week (NMW), which runs from July 23-31. I’m sure we’ll have a few moth enthusiasts from the Greater Austin area turning on porch lights, hanging sheets, shining UV lights, etc., in hopes of attracting some winged photographic subjects. I’ll brave the central Texas heat to see if I can find a few at my house.

NMW has a website where you can read about the background of the event, meet the team behind the event, and get tips on how to “find” moths. In addition, there is an Events Map for public and private mothing efforts across the world. Texas is well represented on that map, but it looks like Greenland could use some help if anyone has time to visit there.

https://nationalmothweek.org/

National Moth Week partners with iNaturalist to record observations during the event. You can “Join Project” at the link below.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/national-moth-week-2022

Happy mothing everyone!