(Image: Dan Kitwood/Getty)
A group of amateur lepidopterists, clustering around a lantern, inadvertently mimic the animals they are studying. Their home-made light source uses a mercury-vapour bulb and a piece of white fabric to draw moths into a non-lethal trap.
There are some 2500 species of moth in the UK, and only 60 or so species of butterfly – but they are the ones that get all the love. The UK’s annual , which took place in August in Brill, Buckinghamshire, aims to redress the balance, as well as gather information on the abundance and distribution of moth species.
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(Image: Dan Kitwood/Getty)
Above is one of the species captured, the Jersey tiger moth (thriving in the warmer weather, apparently, perhaps it’s a beneficiary of climate change). It surely rivals any butterfly in attractiveness, and has the added bonus of being a day-flying species. They may be attractive to us, but the vivid colours warn predators to steer clear. The tiger moth is a pharmacophagous species – that is, it eats plants containing bad-tasting chemicals to give itself a defence against would-be predators.
Although the Jersey tiger moth may be thriving, others are suffering because of climate change. The results of the survey – organised by the insectophile groups and – are due later this year and may indicate which species we need to watch out for.
A version of this article appeared in print under the headline “Flight by night”
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