Where Your Story Meets Ours – Moths in High Altitude and Changes These Creatures Have Experienced in 40 Years

Where Your Story Meets Ours – Moths in High Altitude and Changes These Creatures Have Experienced in 40 Years

On a chilly summer evening in the mountains of Fairplay, Colorado, Dr. Emily Mooney, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), arrived at Sacramento Creek Ranch (SCR) to kick off “National Moth Week”. This annual worldwide event celebrates the beauty, life cycles and habitats of moths every July.

For the past three years, Dr. Mooney and students at UCCS have been studying Alpine moths around the Pennsylvania Mountain Natural Area near SCR. As part of this research, Dr. Mooney included a public nighttime demonstration to showcase some of the moth species that can be found in the area.

As the sun was setting, Dr. Mooney used a few simple tools to set up the demonstration. She hung a sheet between two trees, focused a black light, and waited patiently for the insects to arrive. The goal was to light trap the moths, photograph them and upload the taxa to iNaturalist, an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information.

Dr. Mooney shared that scientists estimate there are at least 150,000 moth species around the globe; some speculate there could upwards of 500,000 species. Moths come in a variety of sizes – from as small as a pinhead to as large as a human hand. Additionally, these incredibly diverse insects showcase a wide array of wing colors and patterns. Dr. Mooney pointed out moths play an integral role as pollinators and are an important food source for many animals.

Throughout the years, Alpine moths have been seldom examined. The UCCS Biology Department is one of a few institutions that has studied moths, completing a project in the 1980s, which tracked the abundance and lipid storage of Alpine moths.

Now, 40 years later, Dr. Mooney and students are analyzing this data and comparing it with current information. One of the important findings of this research demonstrates that the widespread migratory miller moths (Euxoa auxiliaris) are no longer gaining lipids when they feed at high elevations – a critical finding as moths are a vital part of nature’s food chain. Because high altitude moths are not gaining lipids, the animals that feed on these insects, like the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear, are in turn not getting the fatty calories they need from this important food source. Across the world, many researchers are seeing a striking decline in global insect biomass due to pressures of global weather changes and habitat degradation.

As Dr. Mooney shared her findings with guests, three species of moths landed on the sheet allowing guests an up-close look at a few alpine moths species including a Geometrid moth (also known as inchworms), Little Brown moth, and Plume moth (shown below). The cooler temperatures likely kept many other moth species from making an appearance, but the research being conducted by Dr. Mooney and students will be helpful for generations to come.

Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT) is pleased to serve as a hub for field research being conducted by UCCS and other research institutions in Fairplay. MALT is honored to collaborate with Dr. Mooney and students. They are an example of science, nature, education, research and conservation all working towards a common goal.

Together we’re saving the land and leaving a legacy.

Species spotted at the Moth Black Light Demonstration