Written by Charlee Lean
What is so interesting about moths? Apparently quite a lot!
On April 29th, a collection of students and staff from Charles Sturt, plus staff and students from Port Macquarie’s Nature School, gathered at the 802 Lecture Hall to learn about moths. As a free event, it saw a huge turnout of some 150 ticket holders, which made for a sold-out crowd. The event was organised by Charles Sturt’s Anke Frank, a lecturer in Environmental Science, Veterinary Science and Agriculture.
Students from the Nature School put together games and presentations in the foyer, and the ever-amazing Karen Faichney made sure that everyone was well fed, with plenty of snacks, plus tea and coffee.
When it was time to begin, we all gathered in the Lecture Theatre to hear a presentation from local moth experts. This included Port Macquarie local Tony Moore and Winnie from the Nature School.
You may wonder: what is so interesting about moths? Apparently quite a lot!
Australia is home to over 20,000 species of moths; by comparison, we only have about 300 species of butterflies. Why so many? No one’s quite sure, but most species haven’t been scientifically described, leaving lots of room for citizen science.
We also learned the difference between a moth and a butterfly, which is incredibly complicated. It’s not just that moths come out at night; plenty are active during the day, nor is it just that they look different or behave differently. The difference is one tiny feature called a frenulum, which is used to join the wings together and is only found in one species of butterfly, but in every single species of moth.
Moths, as we learned, are incredibly important to their ecosystems, with many acting as pollinators for very specific flowers and trees. It was a great night, and with discussion of a similar talk taking place about bats later in the year, I’m sure it’ll be just as worthwhile.
Charlie blog is a SSAF initiative.
