Event

7th Annual Moth Night at Backyard Butterflies

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๐Ÿ•๐ญ๐ก ๐€๐ง๐ง๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ ๐Œ๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐š๐ญ ๐๐š๐œ๐ค๐ฒ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ
A National Moth Week Celebration
๐‘ช๐’๐’Ž๐’Ž๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰ ๐‘ด๐’๐’•๐’‰๐’”

๐–๐ž๐ฅ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐€๐ง๐ง๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ ๐Œ๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ

Launched in 2019, our Annual Moth Night has become a welcoming introduction to the glowing world of mothingโ€”an all-ages, all-skills, mercury vapor light powered journey into nocturnal insects.

The evening begins with a brief PowerPoint presentation designed to guide newcomers through the basics: what equipment is used, how to get started, which field guides and apps are helpful, and what fascinating creatures youโ€™re likely to spot on the collecting sheets.

Seasoned mothโ€™ers who already speak the language of LepiLEDs and pheromones are welcome to skip the presentation and flutter in after 9:00 PMโ€”just in time for start of moth activity.

Bring a camera or smartphone, sign up for a free iNaturalist account, and upload your nighttime discoveries to contribute to citizen science. Join the official Moth Night project to enter our contest and you might win a limited-edition Moth Night t-shirtโ€”perfect for impressing friends, neighbors, and possibly Mothman himself.

Though the event officially ends at 11:30, weโ€™ll keep the lights on as long as people want to observe.


๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED and LIMITED due to parking space.
Register by car, not by personโ€”so fill that vehicle up like a clown car full of nature lovers. The more the merrier (and mothier).

Moth Night registration opens June 19 and closes July 18โ€”or sooner if we run out of parking spots for your mothmobiles! Due to space limits, we canโ€™t offer a waitlist or add extra spots, so grab your slot before it flutters away!


๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐Œ๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐€๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐€๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ?

Weโ€™re introducing you to the wildly underappreciated world of โ€œmothingโ€โ€”yes, itโ€™s a real thing, and yes, you might get hooked. The evening starts with a short and not-at-all-boring presentation where we explain what moths are (spoiler: not just night butterflies), how they live, how to support them, and what weird glowing equipment we use to summon them.

Want to brush up before you dive in? Visit our event page for more on mothing. Still confused? Email usโ€”we love questions.

๐–๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐–๐š๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ (๐๐ž๐œ๐š๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐Œ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ ๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ฌ)

Mothing only works when the weather plays nice. If it rains or the moths unionize, weโ€™ll email updates to registered attendees. No rain dateโ€”but never fear! If the weather ruins our fun, weโ€™ll be doing it all again next Saturday at Brumley Forest Nature Preserve. Moth party, round two. Registration is also required for that event.

๐๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Œ๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ

๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐‚๐ก๐ž๐œ๐ค-๐ข๐ง

Registration check-in opens at 8:00 PM

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ 

โ†’ A flashlight or headlamp (mood lighting, but for insects)
โ†’ A comfy outdoor chair (your butt will thank you)
โ†’ A camera (or your phoneโ€”moths love selfies)
โ†’Snacks/non-alcoholic drinks (bribes for children and grownups alike)
โ†’ Insect repellent (youโ€™re welcome)
โ†’ Anything else that makes sitting in the dark surrounded by bugs more delightful


๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐–๐ž๐š๐ซ (Because insects will tickle you)

โ†’ Sturdy, closed-toe shoes: flip-flops are a fast track to regret
โ†’ Long pants and a snug shirt: insects are nosy and will crawl into any gap they find
โ†’ Optional: your finest cryptid-spotting attire


๐“๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐’๐ญ๐ฎ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ

Weโ€™ll have three light stations to attract our fluttery friends:

โ†’ Two high-tech LepiLED sheets
โ†’ One mercury vapor/UV sheet, aka the moth rave zone


๐ข๐๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Œ๐ข๐ง๐ข ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ โ€“ ๐†๐ž๐ญ ๐๐ž๐ซ๐๐ฒ, ๐–๐ข๐ง ๐’๐ญ๐ฎ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ

Join our official iNaturalist project and help us ID what shows up. Become a citizen scientist (no lab coat needed) and win prizes a free Moth Night T-shirt in the following categories:

โ€ข Most Observations
โ€ข Most Moth Species
โ€ข Most Non-Moth Species (looking at you, tree hoppers and beetles)

๐Œ๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐Œ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐€๐ฅ๐ž๐ซ๐ญ!

Snag your Limited Edition Moth Night 2025 T-shirtโ€”available now through July 31! These babies are print-on-demand and ship straight to your doorstep. Order early so you can wear yours to the event and flex your moth cred.

Pricing starts at $15 for S, M, L, XL sizes. $17 for 2XL and $19 for 3XL. Shipping for one item is $4.75.

Get your T-shirts at https://www.backyardbutterflies.org/product/annual-moth-night-2025-t-shirt/

We are looking forward to meeting everyone at this yearโ€™s Annual Moth Night and sharing the magic of these nighttime wonders together. Itโ€™s sure to be an evening full of discovery, flickering wings, and great company!

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