Moths in Maryland: What's Flying Tonight

In Maryland tonight, July lights pull the Tulip-tree Beauty (Epimecis hortaria), the wasp-mimicking Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella), and the day-flying, hummingbird-like Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis), alongside small grass moths like Crambus agitatellus. May brings the Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth (Malacosoma americana) and the Tulip-tree Beauty again, while September shifts toward the Fall Webworm Moth (Hyphantria cunea) and the Green Cloverworm Moth (Hypena scabra). What appears at your light tonight depends on your location and date, so run the live tool.

What's flying in Maryland right now

Maryland packs a lot of moth diversity into a small state, from the Appalachian west to the Chesapeake shore. Midsummer lights here reliably draw the Tulip-tree Beauty (Epimecis hortaria), a large bark-patterned geometer, and the slim orange-and-white Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva punctella). A standout you will more often see at flowers by day is the Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis), a chunky bumblebee mimic that hovers like a tiny hummingbird. Small grass moths such as Crambus agitatellus and Microcrambus elegans, plus the Green Cloverworm Moth (Hypena scabra) and Celery Leaftier (Udea rubigalis), make up the bulk of a July sheet.

Season by season

Late spring (May): The Eastern Tent Caterpillar Moth (Malacosoma americana) leads, with the Tulip-tree Beauty (Epimecis hortaria), Malthaca dimidiata, the Bristly Cutworm (Athetis tarda), and the Bristly Cutworm relative Lacinipolia renigera (Bristly Cutworm and Spotted-sided Cutworm) filling spring nights.

Midsummer (July): Peak diversity and the best clearwing season. Look for the Snowberry Clearwing at dusk on flowers, plus the Ailanthus Webworm Moth, Tulip-tree Beauty, Celery Leaftier, and a run of small crambid grass moths. Warm, moonless July nights are ideal, and National Moth Week (July 18-26, 2026) lands right in this window.

Early fall (September): The mix turns to the Ailanthus Webworm Moth, Green Cloverworm Moth (Hypena scabra), the white Fall Webworm Moth (Hyphantria cunea), the small Palthis asopialis, and the Celery Leaftier.

Mothing tips for Maryland

• The Snowberry Clearwing is day-flying, so watch flower beds in afternoon and evening, not just the light sheet.
• For night work, use a UV or mercury-vapor light over a white sheet. Moths respond most to short-wavelength light and white LED underperforms.
• The light disrupts their orientation rather than luring them, which is why they settle near a bright sheet.
• Pick warm, humid, moonless nights. Check the good-night-for-moths score first, and if you are new, read mothing for beginners.

See tonight's prediction

Open the live tool for a Maryland forecast and a good-mothing-night score for your exact location, or compare with neighbors like Virginia and West Virginia from the state index.