The Natural History of Slapton Ley | Wildlife Surveys

Moth trap at first inspection

Lime Hawkmoth - Mimas tiliae

Buff-tip
Phalera bucephala

Moths

NNR staff, volunteers and occasionally visitors to the site carry out Moth Trapping throughout the year. Moths are the generally less well-known relatives of butterflies, this being largely due to the nocturnal nature of most moth species.

Most spectators are pleasantly surprised when a moth trap is first unveiled, often revealing an array of colours, shapes and sizes unseen in many other animal groups.

Moth traps are run regularly throughout the summer at the Field Centre and around the Nature Reserve, with the trap being set up during the day and then examined the following morning, first thing.

A species list is recorded for each trap, rather than individual numbers of each species, since on occasions the number of moths in a trap will exceed 200!

Anybody who would like to learn a little bit more about moths is welcome to join the NNR team in examining the moth trap, just simply phone ahead to check if the weather is ok for the trap to be set on 01548 580685.

To view the results from the 2005 survey, please view or download the pdf file below:

Moth Trapping Results 2005