Science – Page 11 – David Bradley

Môn Mam Cymru – Ynys Môn, the Mother of Wales

TL:DR – Modern-day equivalent of the holiday snap slideshow a record of our most recent trip to Wales, specifically the Isle of Anglesey, Ynys Môn.

May 2023, we finally got around to visiting Anglesey (Ynys Môn, sometimes referred to as Môn Mam Cymru meaning “Môn, Mother of Wales”, for its agricultural productivity) just off north-west Wales (Cymru). We stayed in the seaside town of Rhosneigr right next to RAF Valley and with beach views of Snowdonia, Yr Wyddfa. Thankfully, we only really had airbase activity and noise on the last day of our week there. Although that in itself was fun to watch as trainee pilots did their thing.

Here are a few snaps from the trip in no particular order…

First thing we noticed aside from the fact that it was warm and sunny was an abundance of wildflowers in bloom at RSPB Conwy on our trip in, many of the species there had not yet bloomed when we departed Cambridgeshire. Oh, there was also the pleasant realisation that the evenings are long because we were that much further west than where we live.

Mrs Sciencebase running up Harrison Drive, Rhosneigr — Mrs Sciencebase running up that hill: Harrison Drive, Rhosneigr

We tried to visit as many places on the island as we could during our short stay including the rocky reserve behind Rhosneigr with its lakes, RSPB South Stack (for Chough, Puffin, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Razorbill, Fulmar, and Raven), Llyn Parc Mawr (for Red Squirrel) and Niwbwrch (Newborough), Cemlyn Bay for Arctic Tern, Sandwich Tern, Mediterranean Gull, a pair of Merganser, and Black-headed Gull. We missed seeing the Roseate Tern that had set up residence there though. We also took in the seaside resort of Beaumaris for a boat trip to Puffin Island (Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Shag, Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, seals).

The Menai Suspension Bridge is one way on and off the island.

I know the numbers are irrelevant, really, but we saw at least 83 species of bird on this trip. We were chuffed to finally catch up with Chough and I think it’s the first time we’ve seen Raven in the UK. I think this is probably the most species we’ve “ticked” on a single trip in our six or so years of being a bit serious with the birding.

Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits — The Britannia Bridge is another connection between mainland Wales and the Isle of Anglesey

As you might have presumed I took a portable mothtrap and ran the LepiLED off a USB battery pack for a few hours after dusk for three or four nights of our visit. I had little success, but it’s been a weird year with low moth counts across the country. That coupled with the tiny, secluded courtyard of our holiday house with no nearby trees or other vegetation and chilly nights meant very few moths. There were a couple of Garden Carpet, several Carcina quercana, a few Light Brown Apple Moth, and Red/Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, or Xanthorhoe sp. Several female Adela reaumurella on plants adjacent to Llyn Parc Mawr.

Red/Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, or Xanthorhoe sp. — Red form of Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet to lepiLED in Rhosneigr

Looking towards Rhosneigr from RAF Valley

In daylight moth news, on the dunes adjacent to the airbase Mrs Sciencebase noticed Ruby Tiger (adult), I spotted a larva of the Six-spot Burnet, and numerous Grapholita lunulana.

Lots of Grapholita lunulana on the dunes adjacent to RAF Valley — Lots of Grapholita lunulana in the RAF Valley dunes

There were also Common Heath out there and a tiny micro moth which I didn’t ID. The Ruby Tiger moth was spotted ironically while we watched the training exercises of a pair of Beech T-6C Texan T1 – turboprops and a flock of BAe Systems Hawk 128 T.2 jet aircraft with not a Tiger Moth in sight.

Talk about loud – Three BAe Systems Hawk 128 T.2 coming into land at RAF Valley

Hawk trainer, RAF Valley — Hawk trainer, coming into land at RAF Valley

Beech T-6C Texan T1 - Prop aeroplane, trainer landing at RAF Valley — Beech trainer landing at RAF Valley

There were also lots of Wall butterflies on the railway cutting that runs through the golf course adjacent to the airbase and Small Copper butterflies, a pair of which I snapped in copulo. There were also Small Heath on the footpath through the golf course and the fly Rhagio scolopaceus, the Downlooker Snipefly, cavorting with the Wall on the railway tunnel wall. Elsewhere in the dunes, Fever-fly, Dilophus febrilis.

Wall butterfly showing cryptic camouflage of underwing

Small Coppers in copulo on the Anglesey golf course

Six-spot Burnet larva, Rhosneigr — Six-spot Burnet larva on the dunes near Rhosneigr

Fever-fly, Dilophus febrilis, in the Rhosneigr sand dunes

Male Orange Tip on Cuckooflower, Newborough

Red Squirrel, Llyn Parc Mawr — Red Squirrel on a sunflower feeder at the car park in Llyn Parc Mawr

Raven preying on Guillemot eggs at RSPB South Stack

Raven taking a Guillemot egg — …and the take

Raven with Kittiwake egg, RSPB South Stack

Puffins and Razorbills, RSPB South Stack

Chough flying across South Stack cliff face

One of numerous Chough, RSPB South Stack

One of hundreds if not thousands of Razorbill vying for space on the cliffs at South Stack with thousands of Guillemots, dozens of gulls, fulmar, and kittiwakes — One of hundreds of Razorbill on the cliffs at RSPB South Stack

In terms of flowers, there were lots of wildflowers in bloom that were not showing at home when we left. Also Sea Thrift (Armeria maritima), Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris), Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis), Sheep’s Bit (Jasione montana), and Spathulate Fleawort, unique to South Stack and also known as the South Stack Fleawort, Tephroseris integrifolia subsp. maritima. At NT Plas Newydd, Bistort (Bistorta officinalis).

Sheep's Bit, Jasione montana — Sheep’s Bit, Jasione montana

Lots of Bistorta officinalis at NT Plas Newydd

Thrift in the foreground with South Stack Lighthouse in the background — Foreground Thrift over South Stack Lighthouse

The pastel houses of The West End (1869), Beaumaris, Anglesey — The pastel-painted, three-storey houses of The West End (1869), Beaumaris, Anglesey

Mrs Sciencebase on Beaumaris Pier — Mrs Sciencebase “promenading” on Beaumaris Pier

Snowdonia viewed beyond the rocky beach at Penmon and the Menai Strait. An artisanal gift shop in Beaumaris had the marvellous name Echo Beach

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker takes flight, NT Plas Newydd

On our way off Anglesey, we also visited National Trust Plas Newydd House and Garden and then once back on the mainland, NT Penrhyn Castle.

One additional wildlife point, an Orca was sighted off the Llyn Peninsula in Pwllheli Bay. A bit too far to twitch while we were in Wales. And one final word, a long one…

The station sign at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (The Church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel trees near the fierce whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio by the red cave)

One swallow does not a summer make

TL:DR – The origins of the aphorism about solitary swallows and the summer.

In his writings on ethics, Aristotle had it that:

One swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.

Usually, we abbreviate it to just the first part of the quotation, suggesting that seeing an early swallow in the spring may well not mean that the good weather of summer is about to arrive.

Barn swallow - Hirundo rustica - on an overhead wire, showing blue back, red throat, white breast and rump, and its long forked tail — Barn swallow, Hirundo rustica

Indeed, in Aesop’s fable, The Young Man and the Swallow, we learn of a fellow who spends most of his money on gambling and good living, when he arrives peniless and sees an early swallow in the spring he sells the coat from his back to feed his habits and when the weather turns for the worse, tragically dies of the cold.

It is most likely that Aesop was inspired by the proverb written in Aristotle’s work, Nicomachean Ethics, rather than Aristotle providing us with an executive summary of the fable.

Either way, the Swallows have been in these here parts for at least a couple of weeks now and as you’d expect, it’s a bit chilly at the moment and pouring with rain. We always knew they weren’t great weather forecasters, I suppose.

Footnote

Caught one in low flight over a lawn at NT Plas Newydd in May. Denoised with DxO and motion blur sharpening with Topaz Sharpen.

A hairy-winged member of the Amphiesmenoptera, Stenophylax permistus, the Permitted Narrow Guard

TL:DR – The etymology of a caddisfly name.

While most of my invertebrate photography focuses on Lepidoptera, it’s also fun to get shots of other insects, such as this large caddisfly, Stenophylax permistus, which turned up in the moth trap overnight. I’ve seen it several times before, but hadn’t previously felt inclined to take a photo until this morning.

The scaly-winged Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies, same thing) and the hairy-winged Trichoptera (caddisflies, also known as sedge-flies or rail-flies) share a common evolutionary ancestor. The former group evolved to have scales on their wings while the latter has ostensibly smooth, albeit veined, wings, that have hairs. The two together sit within the superorder Amphiesmenoptera. There are about 14500 species of Trichoptera and 160,000 species of Lepidoptera.

This large species of caddisfly is, I believe, Stenophylax permistus. I don’t believe there’s an official vernacular, or common, name for this insect, but if we look at its scientific binomial literally, we could invent one. Steno means “narrow”, phylax means “guard” and permistus means “permitted”. So the common name for this caddisfly could be the “Permitted Narrow Guard”? Perhaps…

The caddisflies have aquatic larvae, which is handy as we have a garden pond, but the adults are terrestrial.

Boosting your butterfly photos

TL:DR – Using photo editing tools to get the most out of your butterfly photos.

It is Green Hairstreak season. I’d heard that this tiny, shimmering green butterfly had been spotted on Devil’s Dyke in Cambridgeshire in mid-April, so I headed out on foot to a local woodland patch that very day where the butterfly had been seen a couple of years ago. I was in luck! One specimen showing briefly. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photograph on that visit.

Next bright, sunshiny day headed out with Mrs Sciencebase to take another look. There were none on the expected patch, but we kept at it and rounded a corner where there was a Dogwood thicket and various other bushes with a crowd of Green Longhorn moth! So I got a couple of snaps of those.

Mrs Sciencebase spotted the first Green Hairstreak landing. And so with a little bit of patience I managed to get a few overexposed snaps. Using a new second-hand lens (Canon EF 75-300mm lens, 1:4.5-5.6 L IS USM) on my Canon 7Dii), I’ve not quite got used to just how much light it lets in compared to the Sigma 150-600mm I’ve been using since January 2017). Anyway, once I realised the rookie mistake I was making (ISO too high), I homed in on the other Green HSs that were fleeting fluttering into my field of view and finally got a sharp shot at one sideways on. This shorter lens has a much more manageable minimum focusing distance of about one metre as opposed to the three metres of the Sigma.

Obviously, I shoot RAW so that I have more options for developing my photographs just as photographers did when developing their negatives. The tools are software rather than trays of chemical solutions and dark rooms with red lights. Nevertheless, they’re just the tools of the trade and the means by which one extracts a photo from the RAW file. I have outlined the process I generally use for processing my bird photographs. But, this butterfly warranted a slightly different approach.

First step after downloading to PC was to run it through DxO PureRaw 3. This software, which I’ve mentioned several times before, analyses the RAW meta data, identifies camera and lens combination and applies basic corrections such as removing vignetting and pincushion or other distortions inherent to your kit. It also gives you the choice to denoise the photo. It has a slick AI system built in, which I reckon knocks down the ISO equivalent by three stops. So, for a photo that starts of noisy (grainy) because the ISO is relatively high, you can get rid of a lot of the fuzz in one simple, automated step.

The output from PureRaw is a DNG file (a simulated RAW), so you can then import it into a photo editor with the corrections and denoising done and start as if it were the RAW file straight from the camera. This is a real boon as it lets you then do level adjustments, save blownout areas, adjust white balance etc. It also lets you open the file in Topaz Sharpen AI. So, with this butterfly, that’s what I did.

The Topaz software also has Denoise, but it was sharpening that I wanted with this photo. It can be done very subtly or you can retrieve details at quite a powerful level. My usual next step after such initial treatments of the RAW is then to open it in PaintShop Pro (a less expensive alternative to Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom). I am quite happy with its options for cropping, adjusting levels, white balance, saturation, and vibrancy. It is also relatively easy to remove distracting spots and specks in an image to clean up the final photo.

The adult Green Hairstreak, Callophrys rubi, usually emerge at the end of March, into April, to mate and are done by the end of June. They are obviously green, but their hairstreak is but a faint line on the underside of the wings and is even sometimes completely absent or at best a row of faint dots. The green colouration is, as with the colours of other butterflies, due to iridescence and diffraction of light by the scales on the wings rather than the presence of pigments. Lepidoptera, means scaly (or tiled) wings.

The genus part of the butterfly’s scientific name, Callophrys rubi, derives from a Greek word meaning “beautiful eyebrows”, while the species name rubi comes from Rubus, bramble, one of the species’ host plants. There are numerous other “hairstreak” butterflies.

Green Longhorn moth, Adele reamurella — Green Longhorn moth, Adela reaumurella

Citizen science butterflying

TL:DR – An update on my butterflying efforts in 2023.

Regular readers will know I’ve been making a concerted effort to see more species of butterfly during the last couple of summers. Obviously, most people will have seen the relatively common ones – Brown Argus, Comma, Common Blue, Green-veined White, Large White, Orange Tip, Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White.

But, there are many more including various fritillaries, hairstreaks, other types of blue, other types of white that are not seen so frequently. They have limited ranges and sites, nectar and lay eggs only in particular environments, and are generally not seen in gardens or on general walks in the countryside, unless you’re very lucky.

Peacock butterfly — European Peacock, Aglais io

So, here’s a list of the species I’ve been targeting over the last couple of years, some I’m yet to see, others I have “ticked” as it were:

Blue, Adonis; Blue, Chalk Hill; Blue, Silver-studded*; Blue, Small; Camberwell Beauty*; Clouded Yellow; Fritillary, Dark Green; Fritillary, Glanville*; Fritillary, Heath*; Fritillary, Pearl-bordered*; Fritillary, Silver-washed; Fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered*; Grayling*; Hairstreak, Black; Hairstreak, Brown*; Hairstreak, Green; Hairstreak, White-letter; Hairstreak, Purple; Marbled White; Purple Emperor; Skipper, Chequered*; Skipper, Dingy; Skipper, Grizzled; Swallowtail*; Wall; White Admiral; Wood White*.

*Ones I have not seen nor photographed in the UK. Although I have seen Swallowtail larva.

Clouded Yellow butterfly — Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus

I’ve put together a spreadsheet so I can see the where and when and am sharing a portion of that here for you. It’s centred on Cambridge, but spills over into neighbouring counties where there are species that don’t yet appear in this county. I add the best photos I get of the various species to the butterfly gallery on my Imaging Storm website.

How to attract more birds to your garden

TL:DR – Advice on attracting birds to your garden

I was asked to offer some advice on how to attract more birds to the garden. (Here’s my garden tick list, by the way). I wrote a rather long article with lots of detail and added some bird photos of species we’ve seen in ours. I then asked ChatGPT to summarise the article and give me ten bullet points. This is my heavily edited version of the algorithm’s output:

Attracting Birds to Your Garden:

Provide water: Place shallow bowls or birdbaths with clean water at ground level and/or on a stand. Create a wildlife pond and extend it to create spillover area that becomes permanently muddy and diversifies habitat. [As of early 2024, I’ve attempted to create a spillover for our pond]

Offer bird food: Use a variety of feeders and food to attract different bird species. Use feeders designed for specific types of food such as suet and seed balls, Nyjer seeds, mixed seeds, sunflower hearts, peanuts, and dried mealworms. Move the feeders to different parts of your garden every week or so to avoid too much guano and waste accumulating in one place.

Plant native bushes and trees: Bushes that produce berries in winter can provide a food supply for birds such as Blackbirds, Mistle Thrushes, Fieldfares, and Redwings. Ivy flowers and berries can also attract insects and provide food for birds in winter. Bushes and trees also provide shelter and potential nest sites for birds. Create a multi-levelled environment with diverse planting, perhaps terraced, and with lots of nooks and crannies, hiding places, and perching points

Install bird boxes: Place bird boxes fairly high up on posts or trees, with a line of sight from a perching spot opposite and several metres away if possible. Also, look into installing Swift boxes or swift bricks.

Avoid shiny, moving ornaments: Hanging or installing shiny, moving ornaments can startle birds and discourage them from visiting your garden.

Don’t trim or prune too hard: Leaving bushes and trees to grow a little wild and allow wildflowers to bloom, this will encourage insects, which in turn provide food for birds in the form of adults, larvae, and caterpillars. Moreover, don’t be too keen to keep your garden tidy, if you want to see wildlife, it has to be a little wild.

Avoid pesticides and herbicides: There is the potential for harm to birds and their food sources in your garden.

Don’t scatter bread or cooked products: These can be high in sugar and salt and are not suitable for birds. They can also attract rats.

Monitor birds at the feeders and birdbath for signs of illness: If you notice birds looking ill or with lumps on their heads or bodies, remove all feeders, discard uneaten contents, and clean thoroughly. Wait a couple of weeks before putting the feeders out again to allow diseased birds to disperse.

Avoid Astroturf and excessive paving or gravel: Basically, don’t design your garden to limit natural habitats for the wildlife.

At the last count, I’d ticked more than 50 bird species in and above our garden. You can find the more or less complete list here.

Converging eyes and Lepidoptera evolution

TL:DR – Lepidoptera with fake eyes, ocelli, an example of convergent evolution?

The European Peacock (Aglais io) has four “eyes”, known as ocellus, singular ocellus) on its wings just like the Emperor (Saturnia pavonia), it’s a nice example of pareidolia and of convergent evolution.

Butterflies, of course, are just one branch on the moth family tree, we make a distinction in English because of our language and not much else. All the characteristics that are meant to set moths and butterflies apart are found in each, lots of day-flying moths, several with clubbed antennae, loads that are brightly coloured and patterned, some with thin bodies, some with thick, many that close their wings together above their bodies.

Emperor, Saturnia pavonia — Male Emperor Moth

There is one difference…butterflies cannot unhook their forewings from their hindwings, moths have a hook called a frenulum that allows them to disconnect forewings from hindwings. That is the only physical difference between moths and butterflies. There is one exception to the rule the Regent Skipper butterfly, Euschemon rafflesia, of Australia, which has this frenulum hook.

Actually, there is another difference but this is not about the adults…the larvae of moths can sometimes spin a silk cocoon to protect them when they become a pupa. Butterflies don’t make silk for their pupa (chrysalis).

Funnily enough, butterflies are a grouping of micro moths. The term micro as opposed to macro, doesn’t relate to their size as some micros are far bigger than macros. The distinction is about evolutionary position on the lepidopteral family tree. It’s worth noting that new genetics research can change established taxonomical positions on a whim when close relatives are sometimes found or lost.

Return to the reserves

TL:DR – Tick list of wildlife from my return to the reserves.

Finally, managed a half-decent walk (4km) around a local nature reserve with Mrs Sciencebase this morning after weeks of sporadically atrocious weather, work commitments, and a crippling rip in my Achilles tendon. Nice to be back among the reeds and water espying and hearing all kinds of wildlife:

Birds

Fenland Flyby - Bittern over reed beds at RSPB Ouse Fen — Fenland Flyby – Bittern over reed beds at RSPB Ouse Fen

Bittern (flypast), Black-headed Gull, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Cetti’s Warbler (calls from three), Coot, Cormorant, Crane (very distant), Great Crested Grebe, Greylag Goose, Heron, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier (three or four), Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler (calls from at least three), Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shoveler, Skylark, Stock Dove, Swallow, Wigeon, Wood Pigeon.

Mammals

Chinese Water Deer, Hare

Lepidoptera

Large White

You can find my photos of all of those species on my Imaging Storm website.

Webtoons about STEM university

TL:DR – STEM webcomic search term ideas.

Several of you have recently been searching for the following phrase and reaching sciencebase.com: “webtoons about stem university”.

I couldn’t work out what that might be about specifically, but had some thoughts. First, if you’re searching for “webtoons about stem university,” perhaps you were looking for web comics or digital comics that are related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields and set in a university or college setting. Perhaps not…

Maybe you were interested in finding engaging and entertaining ways to learn more about STEM subjects, possibly with a focus on university-level education. Seems unlikely…

As I was typing the above introduction, it suddenly occurred to me that what you might have been searching for is the well-known comic XKCD or something similar. XKCD posts regular jokes and satire with a mathematical and educational bent. It actually describes itself as “A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language”, but taken broadly that could be synonymous with “webtoons about stem university” could it not?

If it wasn’t XKCD specifically that you were after, then maybe it was one of the following alternatives:

PhD Comics – This webcomic is written by Jorge Cham, a former mechanical engineering instructor turned full-time cartoonist. PhD Comics features humorous depictions of life in academia and graduate school, including research struggles and the challenges of pursuing a PhD.

Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD) TV – This is the sister site to PhD Comics, featuring videos that cover a range of topics related to research and higher education, including academic conferences, grant applications, and interviews with academics.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC) – This webcomic by Zach Weinersmith covers a range of topics, including science, philosophy, and pop culture. While not exclusively focused on research or higher education, SMBC often includes witty commentary on academic life and scientific research.

Abstruse Goose – This webcomic by cartoonist Ira is a mix of science, math, and technology humor, with a focus on research and academic life.

Dinosaur Comics – This webcomic by Ryan North features the same images in every strip, with the dialogue changing to address different topics, including science, philosophy, and technology.

The Awkward Yeti – This webcomic by Nick Seluk features humorous depictions of the human body and medical science, often featuring characters such as the heart, brain, and stomach as characters.

The Oatmeal – This webcomic by Matthew Inman covers a range of topics, including science, technology, and current events, with a humourous and irreverent tone.

Questionable Content – This webcomic by Jeph Jacques follows the lives of a group of young adults, with a focus on relationships, music, and technology.

If this wasn’t what you were after, please let me know what you meant by “webtoons about stem university”.

The Moth Trap: How I came to see the lepidopteral light and how you can too

TL:DR – How to fall in love with moths and mothing.

Regular Sciencebase readers will know only too well that back in July 2018 I got hooked on moths. An enthusiastic friend lent me a moth trap he had built himself for his children many years ago. The trap is basically a wooden box with a plastic funnel and an ultraviolet light supported by stiff plastic vanes).

The UV light attracts the night-flying creatures, some of them bump into the vanes, drop into the funnel and then find a cozy corner in one of the empty egg cartons put inside the box before “lighting up”. The amateur, or indeed professional, lepidopterist examines the catch at dawn, recording species and species number and later releasing the moths off-site back into undergrowth or bushes.

It’s fascinating and fun and at the time of writing almost five years since I first “lit up”, I have seen, photographed, and logged well over 450 different species of moth in my Cambridgeshire garden. The variety and diversity of shape, size, colouration, and patterning is incredible. I must admit that I had always been a little irrationally wary of moths despite the fact that they are completely harmless. After all, unlike many other types of insect, they don’t bite and they don’t sting.

It was a test run with my moth-trap maker friend, Rob, who had stopped trapping moth and turned his hand to making guitars, that got me hooked. He lit up one July evening and invited me to the grand opening the next morning. There must have been 100 or more moths in the trap, a few that were simply dull and grey or brown, but among them some huge hawk-moths, some shiny green moths, orange ones, red ones, patterned ones, ones with daggers and arches, all kinds.

Having got a little up close and personal with the Poplar Hawk-moth in Rob’s trap, allowing it to perch on my hand while I took a close look, this single dose of informal aversion therapy, seemed to cure my mild phobia about moths, my mottephobia. I had previously photographed one or two moths that turned up in the house, but essentially I made 180-degree about turn from aversion to addiction. I borrowed Rob’s trap from him permanently as summer turned to autumn, and paid him an honorarium for the privilege.

I have trapped regularly in all that time since. I’ve also acquired various other UV sources including a LepiLED. The low-wattage LepiLED runs off a USB battery pack and is entirely portable, so I have taken it on a few excursions with an adapted, portable Heath trap I bought off another ex-mothing friend. My pots for managing the morning moths came from yet another ex-mother friend!

I have also bought pheromone lures to attract various species, including Emperor and some of the clearwing moths. I have planted wildflowers and various scented flowers in the garden to attract species like Hummingbird Hawk-moth and Convolvulus Hawk-moth. A recent addition to my mothing measures was to buy a bottle of amyl acetate (used in aromatherapy apparently despite it being toxic). It has a strong fruity smell and is entirely harmless to moths but attracts various species.

Is it a kind of madness, this mothematical obsession? Maybe. Am I happy to be part of #TeamMoth and to regularly declare that #MothsMatter? Too right! I have written about the ethics and importance of moth-trapping as a citizen science effort and I have also written about why moths really do matter. Would I recommend it as a hobby or citizen science project? By my scaly wings, I would, of course!

A moth called a Clouded Yellow butterfly — A moth known as a Clouded Yellow butterfly

Incidentally, butterflies are just one grouping within the Lepidoptera, just like the less publicly familiar groupings, the noctuids, hawk-moths, erebids and others. Indeed, butterflies are grouping within the broader clade we know as the micro moths (an unfortunate term that doesn’t always reflect their size but is rather connected to their evolutionary ancestry). The other major clade is the macro moths, but there are some micros that are bigger than even the biggest macros.

The tragedy is that their numbers and diversity have declined considerably since my childhood in the 1960s and 70s. Perhaps even in the last five years since I started mothing. First full year, I would see a couple of hundred moths of 70 or so species, but in the last couple of years those numbers have been much lower even on peak summer nights.