Explorist Media

20/07/2025

National Moth Week is here — and we're shining a light on the moths all around us.

While moths are often thought of as nighttime insects, Texas is home to species active at all hours:
• Nocturnal – flying after dark
• Crepuscular – active at dawn and dusk
• Diurnal – out and about during the day

These insects are more than just background bugs — they're essential pollinators, key parts of our ecosystems, and surprisingly diverse in color, shape, and behavior.

The species featured here were all observed in the San Antonio metro area, including both caterpillars and adults. You can help document even more!

Join us in celebrating these incredible insects and contribute to real scientific research! Here's how you can get involved:

1️⃣ Participate in a Blacklighting Event
Come see moth diversity firsthand at our public blacklighting event — it's a fun and easy way to spot species you may have never noticed before.
🗓️ July 21st | 9–11pm
📍 Bracken Cave Preserve (7515 Bracken Cave Rd, San Antonio, TX 78266)
🎟️ Limited free tickets available — register here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/black-lighting-at-bracken-cave-preserve-tickets-224837
Please note: This event is for adults only (18+) and is not a bat-viewing event.

2️⃣ Host Your Own Backyard Moth Party
You can become a moth scientist right in your own backyard! It's easy:
➡️ Hang a white sheet (a bedsheet works perfectly)
➡️ Position a blacklight (or even a strong porch light) to shine on the sheet
➡️ Wait for the moths to arrive and let the show begin!
🌟 Bonus: Try sugaring — spreading overripe fruit or a sugar slurry on the sheet to attract even more species.

3️⃣ Be a Citizen Scientist with iNaturalist
See a moth? Take a quick photo and upload it using the free iNaturalist app. Each photo helps scientists understand where moths live and how they're doing — and it contributes to real conservation research!

🔦 Grab a flashlight and help shine a light on the moths in your neighborhood — you never know what you'll discover!

Learn more about National Moth Week at nationalmothweek.org.

📸 Moth photos by iNaturalist users | CC BY-NC licenses
Texas Emerald by dontfencemein
Painted Schinia Moth by giarodriguez
Gaudy Sphinx by joyingrum
Texas Buck Moth by circle4peace
White-lined Sphinx by tr7007
White-lined Sphinx by yukioz
Virginia Creeper Sphinx by David Meyer
Tersa Sphinx by amanda_jo33
Tersa Sphinx by Laura Keene

iNaturalist.org

19/07/2025

Today was a good day. Got to help get litter out of Olmos Creek and saw this cool looking Sphinx moth caterpillar.

16/07/2025

Metric paper wasp.

16/07/2025

14/07/2025

Two bees on a sunflower.

18/06/2025

A great video from Basura Bash 2025.

Hundreds of dedicated volunteers tackled trash and revitalized San Antonio's waterways during the 2025 Basura Bash! Can Bradley delivered an in-depth report ...

13/06/2025

10/06/2025

My photo series "Beauty and Debris" is live on Explorist Media. Check out the photos and let me know which one is your favorite in the comments.
Link in comments.

28/05/2025

Sometimes just as you go to take the perfect photo the bird decides to fly away. House Finch in the Headwaters Sanctuary short grass prairie.

27/05/2025

Leaving corn for deer and other wildlife may seem benign, or even beneficial, but it is actually one of the most harmful things you can do for neighborhood wildlife. We generally recommend against feeding wildlife at all, with the possible of migratory songbirds. But if you insist on feeding wildlife, please avoid corn at all cost!

Corn is junk food for wildlife. Most native wild animals are unable to efficiently digest corn. In the short term, it causes diarrhea and gas that can quickly turn fatal. In the long run, corn contains far too much sugar for most wildlife and an improper balance of vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients.

Opossums and squirrels that eat corn can develop metabolic bone disease, while waterfowl develop angelwing syndrome. Deer, especially in winter, can die of ketoacidosis when corn sharply increases their blood sugar— especially in winter, when their bodies change to adapt to a very limited diet.

Corn also attracts the “wrong” animals. Non-native rats and mice tend to love corn and will unnaturally overpopulate an area where corn is fed. These species are harmful to wildlife, often destroying nests and eggs of native birds and out-competing our native rodents. When these overpopulated rodents spread, it may lead to your neighbors using rodenticides, which then kill the predators who eat poisoned rats.

Corn left outside, particularly in hot and moist weather, can also turn to poison. It may ferment, turning it to alcohol that wild animals cannot process or tolerate, or it may grow toxic molds. Of greatest concern to wildlife are aspergillus molds, which grow abundantly on corn and produce aflatoxins, which have caused mass deaths of entire flocks of wild birds. Turkeys and quail are most susceptible, while songbirds may die from simply being near these molds.

If you want to help your local wildlife, please plant native plants, skip using pesticides and herbicides, leave fallen leaves alone, keep your pets contained, and take steps to prevent window collisions. But skip the corn, please!

21/05/2025

This was a Christmas present given to me by my youngest daughter Ryan. The sketch and water color are based on one of my photos.