Report by Gill Stott
On Saturday 4th July The PGP held two concurrent ‘Meet The Moths’ sessions in Brockweir/Hewelsfield and in St Briavels.
At the Brockweir event John Dawson identified moths from three moth traps collected overnight. John’s detailed knowledge of the large variety of moths found was impressive as he named them all methodically, not hesitating to identify them and giving information about the habitats and behaviors of some of them. Meanwhile, at St Briavels, Martin Morris identified moths caught overnight there.
Although it looked as if a healthy number of moths had been collected, John told us that this was only a fraction of the number that would have been found back in the 1970’s when he began his interest in lepidoptery.
The butterfly conservation group (https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/why-moths-matter/moths-in-decline) tells us that the decrease has been 33% since 1968 with some species suffering more than others and some of these becoming extinct. These include the Garden Tiger and its familiar ‘woolly bear’ caterpillar (down 90% since 1968). Moth caterpillars are a main source of food for many garden birds including tits, robins, wrens and blackbirds. The loss of habitats resulting from more intensive agriculture, commercial forestry, industry and urban development are likely to be major reasons. Less moths and their caterpillars has also affected bat numbers which feed on them and a large cuckoo decline. In addition, the increasing use of pesticides and the way we manage our gardens plus light pollution have contributed to the decline. The State of Britain’s Larger Moths can be viewed here https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/the-state-of-britains-moths .
At this end of this post there is a list of all the moths John identified and links to their identification alongside. A few photographs were taken too.
I asked John a few questions about his history of an interest in moths developing his detailed understanding of the many moths in The British Isles. John was the VC recorder for moths in Cambridgeshire until his move to the Wye Valley
Q. How long you have been identifying moths for and how you became interested in them?
John: I’ve probably been identifying moths since I was 7 years old and was first interested in butterflies and moths when I was introduced to them by father. Our whole family are trappers and watchers.
Q. What equipment do you use?
John: I built my first mercury vapour lamp trap in 1994 and that’s principally the type I continue to use with a 125watt bulb in a Robinson trap (used at the meeting).
Q. Where is the best place to site a trap in our gardens?
John: That’s a really difficult question as it depends on the layout of the garden and proximity of windows and lights. Away from the latter and along a hedgerow is usually best. Don’t forget to turn off any solar lighting too! And this time of year you could also be rewarded with a great showing of glow worms.
Q. Which times of the year when is moth trapping most likely to be productive (Are some moths more prevalent in specific months of the year perhaps?) – remembering you mentioned how plant species specific some moths were.
John: There are moths flying in every month of the year, but obviously less in the winter. As a guide a minimum night time temperature of 10 degrees centigrade is needed and very little wind. Wind direction can be important to: a southerly is always an advantage and can mean a showing of rarer migrants. The winter flyers have acclimatised to conditions so if there’s a specific species you’re looking for it’s worth setting the trap.
Moths are pollinators so are attracted to garden plants and some plant species are only pollinated by moths. The reason the Wye Valley is such an important area for some of our rare moths is due principally to the Small-leaved Lime tree which is prevalent here.
Look out for day time moths too: Scarlet Tiger caterpillars on alkanet and Humming-bird Hawk-moth nectaring on most flowers from common buddleia to sweet william.
How to Build Your Own Moth Trap.
Gill and Andy Stott’s son made one for them as a birthday present and it works quite well. The design is similar to the instructions found here, on the butterfly conservation website Budget Bucket Moth Trap | Butterfly Conservation
It can be powered off a normal 12v battery which allows you to site it well away from the house.
John commented that the LED tube could be dropped into the box a bit lower on ours. I looked at others for sale on line though some reviewers reported finding dead moths. I don’t think we have ever found that in our box. It caught far less than John’s two professional traps but is a good low cost alternative.
Plus a real beauty close up.
Martin’s Moth Photographs from St Briavels
List of species identified by John at Brockweir Village Shop
Martin’s List of species identified at St Briavels
| Buff ermine |
| Buff tip |
| Burnished brass |
| Cabbage moth |
| Common carpet |
| Common emerald |
| Common emerald |
| Common footman |
| Common pug |
| Dark arches |
| Elephant hawk moth |
| Eyed hawk moth |
| Garden carpet |
| Heart and dart |
| Hebrew character |
| Peppered moth |
| Riband wave |
| Scalloped oak |
| Silvery Y |
| Swallowtail moth |
| White plume moth |
| Yellow shell |
| Yellow underwing |