Written for The Argo by Conor Wasneuski.

GALLOWAY, N.J. — As the moonlight crept up onto the university, the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics used the opportunity of darkness to shine their flashlights and search for some light seeking insects.

Touted as “Moth Night”, the school had figures from the community like Stockton Entomologist, Dr. Steve Shaak and Nature Photographer Ann-Marie Woods come to the Stockton University Sustainability Farm.

Now bringing more than 100 students to the farm. The event began three years ago, when Shaak began wondering whether he could bring a moth night to the university since he’d attended them for years. “I talked to [Associate Professor of Sustainability] Ron Hutcherson, who runs this farm, to see if we could hold it there and it just so happened that when I was thinking about it, [Marine Mammal Scientist] Melissa Laurino was also having the same idea to hold our Moth Night too. So I was like, okay, ‘Well, let’s talk to Ron, see if we can hold it at the farm’ and Ron was on board. So then we were able to thankfully do that and it worked out really well all the years that we did it” said Shaak. 

They set up spotlights, white sheets, and brought caterpillars for students that wondered about these nighttime creatures. As the night lingered on, the sheets slowly turned a shade of grey as moths, insects and various bugs began lurking in the light. Some brave students even picked up the moths to hold and show to other more skittish but curious students.

Sustainability student Andrea Jones, who was volunteering for the farm, spoke about why students would go to Moth Night. “Moth Night is a great educational opportunity for students who are new to insects, and also great for people who want to come out and get good bug photography and cool wildlife they probably wouldn’t see normally”

Eventually, each of the stations set up were surrounded by students observing and capturing the insects that they never had seen before. 

“One of the stars of the show tonight, the raspberry root crumb or the wasp mimic, feeds on raspberries. A prime example of how the farm is providing habitat for insects as well as the forest beyond. It exemplifies how the farm provides a habitat”, explained Woods. 

“Moth Night” is sponsored by the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. For more events like these, they can be found on OspreyHub and @stocktonsciences on Instagram.