Speakers teach about moths

VERNON — Don and Donna Traylor were guest speakers at the April meeting of the Golden Lunch Bunch Garden Club held at the Vernon Senior Center on April 10.
“Everyone loves butterflies but thinks of moths as the denizens of the dark,” Don said as he introduced the talk on moths with a Power Point photo of the old sci-fi movie Mothra, which caused a chuckle among the garden club members.
With the warm weather approaching, there will most likely be an inundation of critters of all types. The Traylors are experienced birders and have now added moth watching to their interests. According to Don, butterflies and moths are first cousins, with very similar stages of development. Both are colorful and both are pollinators. They can be differentiated by their antennae. Butterflies have a swelling at their antennae endings while moths do not.
“Moths are known to be most active during the night time hours however they are active during the day as well. Pollination happens 24/7,” Don commented.
The couple made reference to the fact that moths number over 12,000 in species, so moth observation is a hobby that is always changing with moths placed in two size categories, micro(tiny) and macro(large).
Simple equipment to begin mothing is the Peter Filed guide to Moths, a flashlight, a camera, binoculars, preferably Pentax with a 6.5x212 power for close focus and night covering clothing.
Lastly, the Traylors stressed that moths are attracted to light but some moths are not. These moths are attracted to tastes and smells. Strangely, some moths are attracted to the smell of bananas, brown sugar and stale beer.
The Golden Lunch Bunch Garden Club meets every second Tuesday of each month at the Vernon Senior Center at 10 am. The group welcomes new members and guests interested in gardening and related outdoor activities.