National Moth Night 2008By Peter Hall
I’m sure that everyone in The Lee is already aware that 7th June was National Moth Night 2008. This year the theme was old orchards and the closest I could think of locally was Kingswood Cottages with their old apple trees. So those unlucky enough not to be invited to the Cock and Rabbit festivities sought solace by sitting around light traps drinking cups of Earl Grey tea.
This was a similar event to last year’s with three mains-powered light traps located across the gardens in Swan Bottom. The idea of light trapping is a simple one. Moths are attracted to light, they fly towards the bulb, circle around it and drop into a box just under the light. Here, lined with egg boxes, they fall asleep in the lit container. At the end of the night, the egg boxes are inspected, a species list compiled and the moths released. No moths are harmed in the making of this list!
The night revealed 73 species of moth. Some like Coleophora striatipennella have scientific names only, but others have names penned as far back as the 19th century; names like Setaceous Hebrew Character, Clouded-bordered Brindle, White-pinion Spotted. It is hard to show the range of colours in moths in a black and white publication, but to renew the concept that not all moths are brown and eat clothes, I attach photos of the bright yellow Brimstone, the grass green Green Silver-lines and the utterly beautiful Elephant Hawk-moth with its green pinks and purples. Also shown is a close-up of a Lobster moth, showing the Denis-Healey-like antennae (was he a moth in a previous life?).
And of the 73 species, not one found eats clothing, but they may well eat your shrubs and trees – and maybe knowing how beautiful these moths are, you may just let them do so in future!