Why Islanders should pay more attention to moths

Bob Harding is trying to convince Prince Edward Islanders to join him in his passion for moths.

"A lot of people don't know very much about moths. We know a lot about butterflies, but moths fly in the nighttime," said Harding, who is the public outreach education officer for Parks Canada on P.E.I.

"Most of them are pretty interesting to watch and they're pretty important to have."

Apart from being interesting and important, moth-watching is a breeze compared to looking for far-more-elusive birds.

"These moths will come right to your screen door," he said.

"We all have porch lights that we light up, and there's a lot of interesting things that will come to that light if we take the time to take a look at them and see what we have."

New moths

Moths are important pollinators as well as a key food source for bats, who eat the adults while flying at night, and for birds, who pluck the larvae off trees and other plants during the day.

The moth landscape is changing, said Harding, partly with the climate, and partly because social media and cellphones have made it easier for people to share what they're seeing, increasing scientific knowledge about moths.

Harding will give a presentation on the secret life of moths Tuesday evening at the Carriage House in Charlottetown as part of a Nature P.E.I. event. He wants to encourage other people to share what they're seeing under their porch lights.

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