National Moth Night 2010

Gold spot

National Moth night is this coming weekend, May 15th to be precise. It is an annual event that is the UK’s  celebration of moths and moth recording. The date varies each year to focus recording efforts on different parts of the season.

To take part in National Moth Night 2010 all you need to do is record the moths you encounter on the 15th May.  This might be moths recorded in a garden trap, or you could build a makeshift trap just for the night.  A porch light may attract moths, or a bright torch shone onto a white sheet in the garden. You can of course buy relatively inexpensive moth traps and you can find out more about these in my post from last year about buying a moth trap.

There are always a good number of public events you can attend, and the best place to find out what’s happening is the official National Moth Night website at http://www.nationalmothnight.info/events/public.php.

This year the theme of National Moth Night 2010 is Moths and Bats, so it is being run in collaborating with the Bat Conservation Trust. People are therefore being encouraged to look out for bats as well as moths.

Personally I shall be away from home on Saturday so will be taking my Moth Trap with me and will be recording in Gloucestershire rather than Ceredigion for a change. No doubt I’ll get some different moths in the trap rather than the usual suspects.

Just be warned though, we went to a public event for National Moth Night 2009 and have been trapping moths ever since!

Tags: Moth Trapping