A pretty damming report of the moth populations in the uk over the past 40 years.
Its pretty amazing to think that some of my best catches would have been common place 30 years ago. Must have been incredible to see the sheer numbers and numbers of species present with each trap in good conditions back then!
Read all about it here- http://butterfly-conservation.org/files/state-of-britains-larger-moths-2013-report.pdf
Even as short a time as 10 years ago you'd have had a heart attack if you'd ave seen what it could be like. The mothing was so good in some of the older Oak woods (i.e.East Blean in the Canterbury Ring Woods) than you couldn't sit near the traps some nights due to being constantly hit by moths. One night we caught so many mixed Tortrix moths (mainly Green Oak) that when emptying the traps in the morning it was like a snow storm ... 1000's of them.
ReplyDeletesee ya (Daddy) ... Phil.
Sounds pretty amazing! Looks like I have just missed the boat when it comes to numbers and species then. Lets hope they pick up again soon, however unlikely it does seem. Even so I have had some pretty decent hauls over the years as a taster of past times.
ReplyDeleteAll the best- Ben