Seeing Moths in a New Light
After being in the dark too long, scientists now say moths are key pollinators. And there are countless species throughout Canada. Nature photographer Tim Zurowski was so enthralled by what he found right outside his door, he set up a backyard portrait st
After being in the dark too long, scientists now say many of the countless moth species across Canada are key pollinators. Nature photographer Tim Zurowski was so enthralled by what he found right outside his door, he set up a backyard portrait studio for local moths. He’s at 350 different species... and counting
are the forgotten ones, the poor neglected cousins of their showy butterfly relatives (they are all Lepidoptera after all). That’s a shame, because moths can be as beautiful, complex and fragile, just seldom as flashy. Of course, most moth species are nocturnal.
As recent studies of pollinators have shown, moths are hugely important, doing the night shift carrying pollen more efficiently and further than butterflies do. But not all are so admirable: many moth species are federally listed pests that lay waste to crops and destroy woods, the dreaded gypsy moth among them.
Every part of Canada is home to some of the several thousand different species, perhaps four per cent of the Earth’s total number of different types of moths. They range in size from the width of a fingernail to the breadth of a large hand. They thrive in temperate climes largely, though the Arctic woolly bear moth makes its home in the High Arctic. In the south, many struggle, like the endangered false-foxglove sun moth (Pyrrhia aurantiago), for the usual reasons: invasive species, habitat encroachment and degradation, and pesticides. Learn more about these fascinating and essential creatures at cwf-fcf.org.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE PHOTOS
Tim Zurowski started nature photography around 1982 but got into moths only in 2018. He started photographing them in his large wildlife-friendly yard in Saanich, outside Victoria, B.C. “Once I saw the variety and was able to get identifications for them, I became fascinated. I had no idea how diverse and numerous they are.”
Moths are nocturnal, so photographing them presents a real challenge. “I am not an expert in this area, but I am learning as I work,” he says. Since certain species of moths are attracted to specific light wavelength spectrums, he uses a fluorescent blacklight, an LED blacklight, a warm incandescent light bulb and a cool bulb as well. Inexorably drawn by the bright lights, once they are in the area, the moths are attracted to the blacklights. “I have a set-up on a six-foot cedar fence with natural pieces of bark and large leaves attached providing a few different natural settings.”
So far, Zurowski has photographed more than 350 species right in his backyard. There are over 2,000 species in B.C. alone. “It is very exciting. You never know what is going to show up.” See more at timzurowski.smugmug.coma
EVERY PART OF CANADA IS HOME TO MOTHS, FROM THE TEMPERATURE SOUTH TO THE HIGH ARCTIC