Glacier National Park Moth Species List

Glacier National Park

In 2023, the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center's Citizen Science Program hosted the first-ever Nocturnal Pollinator Bioblitz in Glacier National Park to investigate the important work of these under-researched creatures. Nocturnal pollinators can include bats, butterflies, lizards, mice, and moths. This bioblitz focused on moths, which have been virtually undocumented in the park, despite being the most abundant nocturnal pollinators - with at least ten times more moth species identified compared to butterflies across the world. Moths play a crucial role in pollinating many of our rare plants and serve as a primary food source for one of our most beloved species, the grizzly bear. The Nocturnal Pollinator BioBlitz is an integral part of an ongoing research project, serving to bridge a significant knowledge gap in Glacier National Park by enhancing our understanding of the biodiversity and vulnerability of our nocturnal pollinators in the face of challenges such as light, air, and water pollution, as well as climate change. The bioblitz aimed to discover, identify, and catalog the rich variety of moths present in our park to establish a baseline for monitoring their population into the future. This is of significant importance, as the last moth collection conducted in the park was in the 1920s, and it reported a mere 44 species, a substantial underestimate of the actual diversity. Moth researchers Mat Seidensticker from the Montana Moth Project and Chuck Harp from the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity worked independently for three nights and collaborated with over 100 citizen scientists during two events to attract and identify moth species.