Mothing in Wiltshire

Mothing in Wiltshire

Robin Griffiths from Butterfly Conservation has been recording his sightings of moths for the past 50 years.

As is now well known, insects are generally declining in number throughout the UK and Europe and it is as important to monitor them as it is birds, mammals and all other groups. Lepidoptera are perhaps the most conspicuous and (relatively) “easy” group of insects to deal with as there are very few butterfly species, and much help is available these days for the more varied and difficult moths.

I have been interested in butterflies for decades – going right back over 50 years since I identified my first White Admiral flying around Bookham Common in Surrey where I grew up.  After setting up home in Cricklade over 40 years ago, I started recording butterflies visiting the garden, but naturally with so few species available I also started noticing the much larger variety of moth species, too.

I began recording them by trapping them in the bathroom by leaving the window open and light on all night, something that was more or less ok with my wife and son! In those days, in the 1980s, there seemed to be plenty of moths around to see, but nowadays to attract a good number you need something a bit more powerful – I mean a moth trap.

In 2014 I bought a Robinson trap and started trapping in earnest and systematically, taking part in the citizen science project The Garden Moth Scheme – which involves trapping weekly, preferably on a Friday, but at least once per week, and recording your results to submit every couple of months to the local recorder. 

Trapping regularly from February to November for the last ten years has resulted in my amassing a list of 570 species in the garden. I usually trap more than 300 species every season. 

Of particular interest in Cricklade are the wetland species that in some cases are not found commonly elsewhere – gems such as the Cream Bordered Green Pea, the Silky Wainscot and latterly the Dotted Fanfoot which occurred in my garden before it had ever been recorded in Wilts before, just two years ago. Much more common but of equal interest are the four China-mark species that are totally aquatic, with eggs, larvae and pupae all living underwater – all have been recorded here.

China-mark moth

China-mark moth

The great attraction of moths is that there are so many different varieties (about 2,450 species) that inhabit all the many habitats, with the result that wherever you live – even in a city – there will be interesting moths to trap. If this introduction has interested you, you may like to read on to see how to start on this fascinating hobby.

Mothing in your garden

Obviously you do need to be aware of your neighbours when setting up your trap – I place mine beside a dense Cotoneaster that protects my next door neighbours from the light. It has to be said that the brightest lights do attract most moths but in some cases it may be necessary to use a trap with a less powerful light source such as actinic or low power LED lamp. There are various sources to get a moth trap from, a couple of the more well known are  ALS - Anglian Lepidopterist Supplies (angleps.com)    and Watkins & Doncaster (watdon.co.uk)

Or, try making your own at home.

A white sheet hung on a washing line with pegs. A torch is then shone onto it.

How to make your own light trap for moths at home.

Many good books are available for lepidoptera, as well as websites and Facebook pages – whatever one’s opinion of the latter it is undoubtedly true that one of the best and quickest ways to get an identification is by posting a photograph of your moth or butterfly on a Facebook page – it will usually be identified quite quickly. Some essential pages for Wiltshire lepidopterists are listed below.

When you have identified your species what to do next? The important thing is to record your findings, so they are not lost to science! By following the advice below not only will your records be preserved, but if there are any uncertain or doubtful sightings (we all have them!) the County Recorders will help you to get a correct identification.

For butterflies, it is necessary to send all sightings to the county recorder, Mike Fuller. The easiest way to do this is to use the Wilts Butterfly Conservation website to record your sightings – you need to register on this first then you can record on the blog - Wiltshire Butterfly Conservation (wiltshire-butterflies.org.uk)   click on the “Submit a sighting” tab. Mike sees all these posts and actually responds personally, pretty unique in my experience. You can also record a limited number of day-flying moths on this as well.

For all moths the best way to record is to use the excellent, Wiltshire based, spreadsheet. This is at 2023-Wiltshire-Moth-Records-Your-Name.xlsx - Microsoft Excel Online (live.com) Fill the spreadsheet in as you record through the year then send it to the county moth recorder Wayne Clinch at wayne.clinch@googlemail.com as soon after the end of the year (or when you stop mothing!) as possible.

Useful resources

Books:

  • Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland (third edition) by Paul Waring & Martin Townsend ill. By Richard Lewington (Bloomsbury 2017)
  • Field Guide to the micro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland by Phil Sterling & Mark Parsons ill. by Richard Lewington (Bloomsbury 2012)
  • British Moths by Chris Manley (Bloomsbury 2015;2023)
  • Common Micro-moths of Berkshire (second ed.) by Nick Asher (Berkshire Moth group 2022)  – an unbeatable introduction to micro-moths

Useful blogs:

Useful Facebook pages:

false

Join Team Wilder

Discover more