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We undertake several moth surveys on campus each year because they are not only excellent indicators of habitat health but they are also vital parts of the food chain with many vertebrate species, including birds and bats, relying on them.

Once again, we used humane light traps, which enable the live capture of moths so that we can release them back into the habitat once we have identified and recorded them. These traps use a light source to attract the moth species active at night, and the animals can spend the night hiding in the egg cartons provided within the main body of the equipment.

Last year we undertook moth surveys at Windmill HillLink opens in a new window where we recorded over 80 species. This year we are focusing our attention on an area of campus close to Tocil Lake where the landscape includes buildings, a brook, mature trees and shrubs, and a good-sized grassy patch. Thus, the variety of habitats has the potential to support a wide range of different species.

This time we trialled a new design called Skinner traps, and even though we encountered a slight technical issue with these, we still found 31 species of moths, 19 of which had not been recorded during our moth surveys before! This included the beautiful white ermine and the poplar hawk-moth. The buff-tip moth was also an impressive sight, as it resembles a birch twig so closely that one needs to check twice which one is the moth!

We will continue these surveys at this site throughout the year to build up a more comprehensive understanding of what species inhabit this area at different times of the year.