Moth Night at Thunderbird Chapel

Thunderbird Lake was quiet this time of evening. The sign CHAPEL pointed to the north. We saw the parking lot. Tucked into the woods was a double chalet linked together by a connecting passageway. Large windows tickled our imagination of what was inside. In the mowed yard to the east was being set up the sheet with floodlight. In the Chapel alcove the second static viewing site was being set up.

The owner of the Chapel asked if we would like a small tour. Several of us followed her as she opened the door and stepped inside. One chalet was the large reception room with a hallway that led to the chapel proper. Framed wedding dresses from the past decorated the walls. We entered the Chapel. My first impression was wood, windows and simple decorations. The ceiling appeared to be the interior of an inverted Viking ship hull with immense wood timbers soaring high to the peak. The plentiful windows gave the feel of being surrounded by forest and green fields. Pews were arranged in angled rows. Now this was a place for a wedding! We later learned the woman, her husband and family members built this beautiful chapel. No fear a chapel would appear on our land. My husband and I were challenged by constructing a doghouse.

Moth-ers kept coming from the area as the sun set, eager to discover what moths were there. A person interested in moths is a moth-er. The joke was…just a few weeks ago we celebrated Moth-er Day. Get it. Use the hyphen.

Go to the light. Moth observation is quite simple and only requires a light source and a surface where moths can rest. In our case it would be the sheet suspended on a wire with a light aimed directly on it and inside the alcove of the Chapel. The small white plastic wardrobe from IKEA, able to stand independently because of an internal frame with clothes rod across the top, had a black light glowing inside. An Io moth had been caught and was quiet inside the (much larger than a shoe box) plastic box. Io moths have eye spots on the hind wings. These can’t be seen if the moth is resting with its wings together like a broad arrow. The Peterson’s Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America is a comprehensive handbook chock-a-block full of picture of moths, descriptions and locations. Good to have.

Sixteen of us, give or take a few, began to walk around the chapel, investigating all the nooks, crannies, window ledges, trees or any possible enticing moth place. Flashlights, cell phone lights and cameras galore were the tools of the night. The call of Chuck-Wills-Widow carried through the woods as we discovered spiders with intricate webs, a cocoon, some fast-moving beetles, crane flies, even faster fluttering small moths, and large black ants. We entered the chapel from the side for those who had yet seen the inside, but the tour was cut short when someone loudly exclaimed a Cecropia Moth had found the wardrobe in the alcove. Stampede.

What a moth. She was camping at the base. That moth was immortalized in dozens of pictures before she joined the Io moth. Both were to be transported to an orchard where they will enjoy life and reproduce. The rest of the moths were safe as viewers traipsed between the sheet and the wardrobe, some with high-quality cameras. We used our cell phone.

Black and white Leaffolders collected on the sheet. Probably grapes were nearby. While the moth-ers oohed and awed, the leaffolder caterpillar is considered a pest in vineyards. Reminded me of the time we two plant pathologists were strolling through a grove of very sick Austrian pines, oohing and awing over the textbook presentation of Pine Wilt disease. The ailing pines would not recover and had to be removed. When we saw the stricken looks on the faces of the heart-broken owners, we immediately curbed our excitement and concentrated on taking pictures. They were very polite and didn’t tell us we both needed sensitivity training. Live and learn.

That is what many of us were doing tonight, learning about moths. Scarlet moths, Tussock moths, small white moths with black ‘pepper’ dots, the Confusion something-or-rather moth (not THE Confusion moth which was endemic to Hawaii and is now extinct), LBM!s (little brown moths until the light hits them and they explode into colors) and others. It was great fun being with people who actually knew their moths and were on the hunt for new ones that might show up.

While doing a little moth research, I came across sugaring. Sugaring is a guaranteed technique to attract moths looking for a sweet fix. They can smell food from quite a distance. Their antennae, legs and other body parts have sense receptors to detect nectar or mates. Food or sex. Difficult choices. The mixture of sugar, overripe fruit and beer painted onto tree trunks an hour before dusk will do the trick. Beer can make many things happen. Just remember to bring a flashlight.

National Moth Week is the last week in July 20-28th.

Numbers of moth species world-wide could be as high as a half a million. A lot of unseen moths are out there either practically invisible in camo gear or brilliantly colored. Have a moth night at your home. One moth-er goes out every night with his camera and walks his two acres. He calls it going on Safari.

The moths come to our house every evening, with the June bugs and crane flies. As darkness descends, the lights on the sunporch attract a fair number. Moths dance on the outside glass panes while being observed from inside the house. No mosquitoes. Perfect.