Winged Underdogs: Magnificent Moths

FARGO — We just wrapped up National Moth Week, and if you haven’t gotten involved by now in a program that could improve the fate of these poorly understood little pollinators, there’s still a chance to help.

Entomologists say their new scientific findings indicate moths are doing a lot of the heavy lifting in pollination the way butterflies and bees do.

Moths are attracted to night-blooming plants and can collect a lot of pollen on their chunky, furry bodies.

NDSU Extension Entomologist Janet Knodel says North Dakota has 2,000 moth species that live here and that you can coax toward your garden.

That’s compared to only 156 butterfly species, but since butterflies fly and feed during the day, most people don’t notice how striking our moth population can be.

If you peek under the plants, you can possibly spot the moths hiding there during the day, but a moon garden featuring white, night-blooming flowers is probably your best bet to attracting moths, which Knodel calls “the underdogs” of the pollinator world.

National Moth Week officials are looking for your help volunteering as a citizen scientist to help count and track your local moth population.

And believe it or not, all the moth species in Knodel’s moth case live right here in North Dakota.

Knodel joined the Morning Show to share her insight on why moths are a special and poorly-appreciated kind of pollinator, and her spectacular moth collection.

For more information on how you can get involved:

https://nationalmothweek.org/