Close-up with moths

Discover the night-time world of moths...

Some moths fly by day. Some night-flying moths rest on walls or tree trunks and can be spotted by eagle-eyed observers in daylight hours. Most, however, remain unseen...unless you deliberately go looking for them, that is.

About 12 years ago, I experienced my very first moth trap at Lower Smite Farm as part of an event. I was hooked. I bought my own trap and have been monitoring the moths in my garden for some years now. But before I go any further, I should add that moth traps don't harm the moths. Moths are attracted to a UV light that's perched above a box. Some of the moths fall into a box, tuck themselves into upturned egg boxes and stay there until the following morning when the moth-er (me, in this case) checks and notes what's in the box and releases the moths (into different plants, shrubs and trees to provide shelter and cover until they fly away of their own volition).

three people looking at what's landing on a white sheet - the sheet is on the ground and there's a bright light shining above them

There are other ways of seeing what moths are in your garden or local greenspace. The easiest way requires no special equipment - just a white sheet and a very bright torch. Hang up the sheet (or lay it on the ground) and shine the torch on it. You'll be surprised what's attracted by this beacon of light in an otherwise darkened area. The only real disadvantage is that some moths might not land so you may not be able to see their real beauty for very long.

With my trap, I usually put it out at dusk and then forget about it until the morning, although sometimes I pop out to see what's landing. I'm a night owl so the idea of getting up early to empty a moth trap doesn't exactly fill me with joy but the excitement of gently removing each egg box to see what's flown in overnight is all the incentive I need.

Whilst they're not all found in Worcestershire, there are over 2500 species of moth in the UK so, as you can imagine, identifying moths can sometimes be quite tricky. Some are nice and straightforward but others are named 'the confused' and 'uncertain' for a reason! Moths are amongst the most varied and beautiful insects we have, though, so it's worth persevering and not immediately trying to learn the name of every moth that's attracted to your light. Half the fun of seeing these incredible creatures up close is then to try and identify and learn more about their lives.

I've been amazed at the sheer variety of species that I've found in my garden. I live in a village that's surrounded by arable fields, many of which have no margins and are regularly sprayed with chemicals. But gardens are vital oases and stepping stones in our landscape, whether rural or urban, and to know that my garden and those of my neighbours can support 200 or more species of moth gives me hope. 41% of the UK's insects face extinction so the more we collectively help wildlife in our gardens and greenspaces, the better.

Eyed hawk-moth resting on an apple tree branch - the moth is a mixture of greys and browns with pointy wings and a black stripe on the back of its head

We often focus on the flowers that help bees and butterflies (they'll help moths too) but what about all the foodplants for butterfly and moth larvae? Caterpillars can be notoriously fussy eaters so providing a range of plants should improve the number of species you attract. Having an apple tree may attract eyed hawk-moths, comfrey could attract scarlet tigers, elephant hawk-moths may munch your fuschias whilst mulleins will, as you'd perhaps expect, happily feed on mullein. Leaving patches of native plants will help too - ivy for old lady moths, bramble for peach blossom moths and dandelions, docks and plantains for muslin (see main photo at the top of the page), ruby tiger and blood-vein moths.

Getting up close with moths is great for our connection to nature but, for me and many others, it serves another purpose. Recording. Sending records of the wildlife you see to an organisation like Worcestershire Biological Records Centre (WBRC) is really important to help conservationists understand more about how wildlife is doing. And it's easy enough to do; whilst you can submit a spreadsheet direct to WBRC or upload via a platform called iRecord, you can also take a photo and send it to us via a short Wildlife Sightings form on our website - a team of volunteers sort everything that comes in (identifying species where necessary) and send the records on to WBRC on your behalf. So, what are you waiting for? Start spotting and get recording.