Moths

Many people think of moths as little brown pests that eat holes in clothes and would be amazed at the diversity in size, colour and habitat. They are found on the highlands, moorlands and lowlands with colours ranging from subtle camouflaging patterns to bright primary colours, whilst some of the Hawk-moths have a wing-span of over 100mm.

Although there are a number of day-flying moths, most are nocturnal and attracted to light. The Society owns two M.V. light-traps and a few members run their own moth trap. We now have the use of a generator so are able to record further afield but have still only managed to cover a small part of our area. Records are also obtained from the identification of the larvae, which again can have very distinctive colour patterns. Although not continuous, the Society's records go back to the 1940's, with over 400 species being recorded.

2003 was a country-wide notable year for sightings of the aptly-named Humming-bird Hawk-moth, a regular immigrant to the British Isles. This day-flying moth was reported from a number of sites in our area.

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