Moth Night on the Village Green

Cosponsored by the Norfolk Land Trust, the Historical Society, the Community Association and the Conservation Commission, the entomologist and science teacher Brigette Zacharczenko returned to Norfolk on the evening of Aug. 19 to share her knowledge about and passion for moths. About 35 people crowded into the ground floor of the Historical Society Museum to hear Zacharczenko give a short presentation about the different types of moths and their metamorphosis cycle. She passed around some specimens and answered everyone’s questions (e.g., Why are moths attracted to light? Short answer: no one really knows), before everyone headed out onto the darkened village green to see some moths. The lighted sheet attracted more flies than moths that night, but a nice large example of the Sphingidae family, commonly known as hawk moths, did show up.

Photos by Wiley Wood and Ruth Melville