What an opportunity! Our newest Lepidoptera curator, Vaughn Shirey, was planning a celebration of National Moth Week and had an idea. He was leading a group of University of Florida students out into the evening woods to collect nocturnal insects, and he wanted to invite enthusiastic science and nature fans to join them. We were thrilled to share this incredible experience!
On July 25 and 26, guests joined us for a presentation about what these scientists would be doing and looking for during the evening fieldwork, including an introduction to the tools they relied on to draw out insects and catalog what they found. Some people were pleasantly surprised to find out how easy it is to set up a light sheet and observe insects in their own yards!
After a presentation at Steinmetz Hall, graciously hosted by UF Entomology and Nematology, we joined researchers in the field to watch them in action. Many people visit the UF Natural Area Teaching Laboratory (NATL) during the day but we were adventuring into the familiar space in the evening, which was even more exciting!
All in all, it was a lovely crowd each night and we observed a good number of species. Way too many mosquitoes to be honest, but we saw some elegant moths and neat bugs. We look forward to more evening fieldwork with our moth scientists!
