Each year, previously certified VMN volunteers who complete another 40 hours of approved volunteer service and 8 hours of approved continuing education earn a unique recertification pin for that year. In most years, we have held a contest to choose the artwork for the pin; we are fortunate to have many VMN volunteers with artistic talent! We decided the 2024 recertification pin would be a moth, and we invited VMN volunteers to submit their artwork of any moth species native to Virginia. Why a moth? We chose this group of organisms because moths are underappreciated, yet they are beautiful and very important parts of the food web. The winning artwork was selected based on input from several insect experts from our sponsoring agencies and volunteer corps. Thank you to Eric Day (Virginia Tech Department of Entomology), Anne Chazal (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Natural Heritage Program), and Joella Killian (VMN volunteer, Central Rappahannock Chapter and retired professor, University of Mary Washington.)
We received so many wonderful submissions, and here we share all the artwork we received, including, above, the winning Clymene Moth by Rosalind Ilett, a VMN volunteer in the Roanoke Valley Chapter.
The Clymene moth (Haploa clymene) is a boldly-colored moth that is active in the daytime as well as the night, so it may sometimes be mistaken for a butterfly. Like many moth species, its caterpillars feed on a variety of host plants, including willows, oaks, and Eupatorium species (in the aster family.) It is in the tiger moth sub-family.
A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who participated! It is wonderful to share in your creativity and excitement for our natural world! We truly were so impressed by your creations.
Click on the images below to see each of the other submissions for the 2024 VMN recertification pin artwork. The artist name and the species are listed in each caption.
We received so many wonderful submissions, and here we share all the artwork we received, including, above, the winning Clymene Moth by Rosalind Ilett, a VMN volunteer in the Roanoke Valley Chapter.
The Clymene moth (Haploa clymene) is a boldly-colored moth that is active in the daytime as well as the night, so it may sometimes be mistaken for a butterfly. Like many moth species, its caterpillars feed on a variety of host plants, including willows, oaks, and Eupatorium species (in the aster family.) It is in the tiger moth sub-family.
A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who participated! It is wonderful to share in your creativity and excitement for our natural world! We truly were so impressed by your creations.
Click on the images below to see each of the other submissions for the 2024 VMN recertification pin artwork. The artist name and the species are listed in each caption.