El Paso high school teacher Paul Hyder says that he is a confirmed desert rat who teaches AP Environmental Science, classes for Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Master Naturalist Program and field experiences for Celebration of Our Mountains.   For the second time this summer on July 30th Hyder will be speaking at the El Paso Zoo as part of the July Saturday night “$5 after 5:00” event.

At 7:30pm in the Wildlife Amphitheater zoo guests will be able to explore the strange, and often little known, world of moths.  

Long before any of us visiting the zoo were born our world flourished with a tremendous diversity of life.  Many of the species that have lived in our area for thousands of years are still with us, but many more have disappeared because of the way we have developed our city by destroying the natural habitats that once covered the landscape.   Scientists and educators like Hyder are trying to help us discover the largely unseen world of important pollinators like moths that are so important to maintaining our quality of life. 

The program will look mainly at the ecology and diversity of these animals and after the lecture participants will be able to see what moths have come to visit moth lights that have been set up for the evening event.  So far scientists have identified and described over 160,000 moth species around the world.  Some of the moths known to El Paso are identified on a Texas A&M website.

Come and celebrate these little creatures and find out how you can make the world a friendlier place for pollinators.

Rick LoBello, Education Curator

Photos 
Cover – Chuck, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Top – dasroofless, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Middle – Ken Slade, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Bottom – Judy Gallagher, Wikimedia Creative Commons