Mass Moths

The Massachusetts Moths Project (massmoths.org) database has now surpassed 300K records! The most recent update added >12,000 more records, mostly from iNaturalist, but some from other sources. This update includes four new species: Anatrachyntis badia (https://massmoths.org/moths/Anatrachyntis-badia), Scrobipalpa acuminatella (https://massmoths.org/moths/Scrobipalpa-acuminatella), Acleris kearfottana (https://massmoths.org/moths/Acleris-kearfottana), Episemasia solitaria (https://massmoths.org/moths/Episemasia-solitaria). The total is now 2,976 species. This new update has added 221 county records, with Franklin County gaining the most (39), and 3,301 additional grid square records (new dots on the Mass Moths maps). Three more grid squares now have >500 species (now 55 squares) and two more (now 6) have more than 1,000 species (Ware, Groton, Martha’s Vineyard (2) and Nantucket (2)). All squares lying in rural areas should be able to surpass 500 species, and most double that and more, so there is a lot still to be done. This can best be achieved by visiting new places, especially with lights at night, and by looking at the micros as well as the macros. See https://massmoths.org/summarized-project-data/
Data were downloaded from 29th June to 5th July (downloading large amounts of data is time-consuming!). More than 16,000 observations were found to have reached ‘Research Grade’ since the last update. About 2000 observations had to be excluded due to obscured or otherwise inaccurate localities. Another 2000 observations were excluded as they were found to be duplicate observations (same species, sometimes the same individual, at the same locality and date). If more than one photo is taken of the same species with the same locality and date, it is best to enter into one observation, and give the number of individuals seen under comments.
If your observation depicts anything other than an adult moth, please try to remember to annotate your observations with the stage. Always add the observation to the iNaturalist Mass Moths Project and use the Mass Moths annotations, as the standard iNaturalist fields cannot be downloaded. Adding the Mass Moths annotation ‘Larva’ automatically fills in the iNaturalist larval annotation as well.
Thank you for participating in the Mass Moths Project! menos ↑