Big Red Moon

Moths

Intro

WARNING! Mothing can be addictive.

We started moth recording in 2009 when Toni gave me a Skinner trap. The word 'trap' can be misleading, as it's quite possible for moths to find their way out, and they often do. Those remaining in the trap are released unharmed the next day. The purpose is to record species and numbers, then pass the information on to the county moth recorder who enters them into the national database. However, there's no denying that mothing can satisfy the inner collector, and, with many hundreds of moth species in the UK, it can be a life long interest.

We've recorded a few hundred moth species in our garden, but we haven't listed those at the moment. That's a task for the long winter evenings. Instead, we've put together this list of those we've seen in the valley. It's rather short as they are only daytime observations of resting nocturnal moths and day flyers.

More to follow