Wildlife watch Having a ball monitoring moths
Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Falls of Clyde Wildlife Reserve assistant ranger Jenny Mann would like to tell readers about a particular type of insect.
Moth trapping is one of our favourite type of wildlife monitoring at the Falls of Clyde, and despite the 6am alarm clock and rainy mornings, we carry out this survey every two weeks.
In a similar way to butterflies, moths are an integral part of many ecosystems.
In their adult form they provide food for a wide range of creatures, from amphibians to bats, and their larval form (caterpillar) is a key food source for young birds.
They also provide the added benefit of pollinating our plants, so monitoring their numbers and species distributions can help with future research.
Moths are also considered to be a ‘flagship’ species for invertebrates, whereby their conservation will also help to protect many other insects.
It is, therefore, important for us to keep an eye on how well they’re doing, through regular surveys.
The preferred method for monitoring moths is with a light trap, where the moths are attracted to a light source and fly into a funnelled container full of egg boxes for them to hide amongst.
In the morning we then remove the moths one by one to identify them, before releasing them back into their habitat.
This year at Falls of Clyde we have counted a total of 78 species but some of our favourites are:
The Polar Hawk Moth: The most common hawk moth in the UK, and pretty unmistakable at 30-46mm long, so if you want to impress someone with your moth ID skills, this is the one to go for!
It’s our intern Cait’s favourite, as they can be quite lazy in the morning when we’re releasing them, and often need some encouragement.
Tiger Moth: Another unmistakable and rather exoticlooking moth. This one isn’t something you would expect to see in the UK, but you can find them in the Shetland Isles.
They have brown and white blotches on their cover wings and bright orange to yellow on their abdomen.
When scared, this moth will show you its hindwings and produce a yellow fluid from two ducts behind its ears.
Although we haven’t seen this moth on-site this year, it is head ranger Laura’s favourite.
Antler Moth: MY favourite this season, named for the white antler-like mark on its forewing. Although common, this is a beautiful species to come across, and definitely one that will spark an interest in mothing.
The Antler Moth’s preferred habitat is grassland, and interestingly the caterpillars prefer to eat at night-time!