Saturday, July 22, 2023, marked the first event celebrating night pollinators during Moth Week, 2023, held at the South Texas Ecotourism Center (STEC) in Cameron County. When I received the email asking if I could help with this first-time event, I was excited to be able to help STEC! Before I agreed to help with this event, there was one key phone call I needed to make. I called my friend, and fellow breast cancer survivor, and “South Texas Sand Sheet Sister,” Cat Traylor. I knew that with her experience and my organizational skills, we could pull off this event, even if we only had less than two weeks to prepare.
There was a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time. Regardless of how difficult I thought pulling off this event would be, and despite my lack of knowledge on the subject matter, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Cat and I were not alone in helping to pull this wonderful event together. Many individuals dedicated their time to Moth Night at the STEC. Pretty soon, after a blur of days in my hot carport where Cat and I assembled moth setups, to flurries of emails with questions regarding logistics to Mr. Edward Meza, STEC Director, and so forth, finally the day of the event arrived.
While I was busy interacting with visitors, even guiding some of them out to the Tamaulipan thornscrub installation in front of the STEC building, Cat dutifully and methodically surveilled the moth set ups for moth activity. Visitors also gathered around the moth setups—scouring them for insect activity. Everyone waited on bated breath for that first moth to show up, and then it did! The first moth showed up at a setup that Cat and I named “Small Fry.”
Here is Cat’s portrait of the first moth of the night at “Small Fry” —a fuzzy, pretty Theodore Carpenterworm Moth. (Givira theodori)
As the night wore on, many other insects visited the moth setups, but they did not show up as quickly as one would have hoped. While we waited for them, many other incredible nature stories were unfolding. For instance, while taking a break from the moth setups, several of us had the good fortune of sitting on a bench together and being dazzled by fellow Texas Master Naturalist, Drew Bennie, on how lichen glows under ultraviolet light. Who knew? I, for one, did not.
Images from “Moth Night at the South Texas Ecotourism Center”:
Scenic views from the South Texas Ecotourism Center:
