Roots and Shoots
Moth night report
Paul Waring, our visitor for the September moth night and joint author of the definitive field guide for moths in Britain and Ireland, has written a report for the British Entomological and Natural History Society.
Here is a report written by Paul Waring for the British Entomological and Natural History Society:
Leaders: Paul Waring (PW), Toyin Solanke and David Perkins This was a diverse field meeting comprising operation of two light-traps to sample the moths on site but also an indoor session in which Toyin Solanke provided an illustrated geological history of the Borough of Lambeth in which she lives and the legacy of moths in the fossil record. Toyin also sang a rap song to summarise and convey the key points. This is surely the first BENHS field meeting to feature rap music! The evening commenced with the arrival at the start time of 19.00hrs of over forty people, including a number of children, mainly from Lambeth, in which the event had been advertised in advance by site manager David Perkins using a few strategically placed posters and an e-mail to the "Friends of Roots & Shoots" subscription-based group, as well as inclusion in the BENHS field meetings programme and on the BENHS web-site. There were no other members of the BENHS in attendance other than the leader, but one attender brought along a copy of the Waring, Townsend and Lewington Field Guide to Moths (2003) for PW to autograph and several other people expressed a well-developed interest in moths. One local resident reported seeing several Red Underwing moths Catocala nupta on the walls of his Lambeth flat during the fortnight before the meeting. We also had one lady come along who has a stage career as a look-alike of Queen Elizabeth II and who was particularly interested to learn how best to prevent moths damaging her extensive ward-robe of costumes. Once assembled, our first job was to put out the ten wine-ropes we had made freshly for the occasion, explaining that any residents could easily and cheaply use this technique. The wine-ropes were draped over branches of the Pendunculate Oak Quercus robur, Hazel Corylus avellana, and Apple trees Malus domesticus that surround the rough grassland in the wildlife garden maintained by the Roots & Shoots horticultural training centre. Next PW explained the design and workings of a light-trap he had brought along in a hold-all (which also contained his sleeping bag and overnight kit) on the train from his house in Peterborough. This comprised nothing more than the entrance cone and rain-shield from a Robinson trap, a 160W blended MV/tungsten bulb requiring no choke, a short length of cable and a collapsible container base made from black netting, from a Johnston Ranger trap, lined with three egg-boxes. This was placed on open grassland by the trees and shrubs. In addition, a Skinner-type wooden light trap belonging to Roots & Shoots and fitted with a 15W actinic fluorescent light-tube was operated in a nursery area containing many pots of small plants on hard-standing and screened from the other light-trap by a hedgerow and various buildings. The night was clear, cool and dry and a bright full moon rose soon after dark while we were standing around the traps discussing light-trap designs. The trap with the blended bulb captured sixteen moths of six species over the course of the night to dawn, including the Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (5 individuals), Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes (2), Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Noctua janthe (1), Vine's Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua (2), Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa (2) and Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidea (4). The actinic trap captured thirteen moths of seven species, adding Silver Y Autographa gamma (1), Pale Mottled Willow Caradrina clavipalpis (3) and Marbled Beauty Cryphia domestica (1) to the list for the night. However, most of these moths arrived after we closed the meeting at 22.00hrs. Anticipating this, PW had brought along a selection of live moths captured in a Robinson trap operated in his Peterborough garden the night before the meeting. These were passed around in clear plastic pots at the start of the indoor session for everyone to see and these exhibits were particularly popular with the various children. These moths were used to illustrate such topics as the evolution of cryptic patterns and forms, larval host-plant specificity, adult feeding behaviour, flight times, longevity, the effects of climate change and the concept of bio-indicators. A fine hot vegetarian meal and hot drinks were provided to warm everyone up while lots of questions were asked informally and we concluded the indoor session with an ensemble sing-song in which we all joined Toyin for the choruses of a song summarising the topics covered. We were so involved with all of this that we did not get around to checking any of the wine-ropes before 22.00hrs, by which time any of the moths that they attracted had departed! We finished with a vote of thanks to our hosts at Roots & Shoots and all those, including the catering volunteers, who had contributed to this interesting and enjoyable event, including the forty-plus people who had attended. Many people thanked us individually afterwards and we have been invited back. The records have been entered on the Roots & Shoots website and forwarded to Colin Plant as Moth Recorder for the London area, and to the National Moth Recording Scheme.
Leaders: Paul Waring (PW), Toyin Solanke and David Perkins This was a diverse field meeting comprising operation of two light-traps to sample the moths on site but also an indoor session in which Toyin Solanke provided an illustrated geological history of the Borough of Lambeth in which she lives and the legacy of moths in the fossil record. Toyin also sang a rap song to summarise and convey the key points. This is surely the first BENHS field meeting to feature rap music! The evening commenced with the arrival at the start time of 19.00hrs of over forty people, including a number of children, mainly from Lambeth, in which the event had been advertised in advance by site manager David Perkins using a few strategically placed posters and an e-mail to the "Friends of Roots & Shoots" subscription-based group, as well as inclusion in the BENHS field meetings programme and on the BENHS web-site. There were no other members of the BENHS in attendance other than the leader, but one attender brought along a copy of the Waring, Townsend and Lewington Field Guide to Moths (2003) for PW to autograph and several other people expressed a well-developed interest in moths. One local resident reported seeing several Red Underwing moths Catocala nupta on the walls of his Lambeth flat during the fortnight before the meeting. We also had one lady come along who has a stage career as a look-alike of Queen Elizabeth II and who was particularly interested to learn how best to prevent moths damaging her extensive ward-robe of costumes. Once assembled, our first job was to put out the ten wine-ropes we had made freshly for the occasion, explaining that any residents could easily and cheaply use this technique. The wine-ropes were draped over branches of the Pendunculate Oak Quercus robur, Hazel Corylus avellana, and Apple trees Malus domesticus that surround the rough grassland in the wildlife garden maintained by the Roots & Shoots horticultural training centre. Next PW explained the design and workings of a light-trap he had brought along in a hold-all (which also contained his sleeping bag and overnight kit) on the train from his house in Peterborough. This comprised nothing more than the entrance cone and rain-shield from a Robinson trap, a 160W blended MV/tungsten bulb requiring no choke, a short length of cable and a collapsible container base made from black netting, from a Johnston Ranger trap, lined with three egg-boxes. This was placed on open grassland by the trees and shrubs. In addition, a Skinner-type wooden light trap belonging to Roots & Shoots and fitted with a 15W actinic fluorescent light-tube was operated in a nursery area containing many pots of small plants on hard-standing and screened from the other light-trap by a hedgerow and various buildings. The night was clear, cool and dry and a bright full moon rose soon after dark while we were standing around the traps discussing light-trap designs. The trap with the blended bulb captured sixteen moths of six species over the course of the night to dawn, including the Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba (5 individuals), Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes (2), Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Noctua janthe (1), Vine's Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua (2), Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa (2) and Willow Beauty Peribatodes rhomboidea (4). The actinic trap captured thirteen moths of seven species, adding Silver Y Autographa gamma (1), Pale Mottled Willow Caradrina clavipalpis (3) and Marbled Beauty Cryphia domestica (1) to the list for the night. However, most of these moths arrived after we closed the meeting at 22.00hrs. Anticipating this, PW had brought along a selection of live moths captured in a Robinson trap operated in his Peterborough garden the night before the meeting. These were passed around in clear plastic pots at the start of the indoor session for everyone to see and these exhibits were particularly popular with the various children. These moths were used to illustrate such topics as the evolution of cryptic patterns and forms, larval host-plant specificity, adult feeding behaviour, flight times, longevity, the effects of climate change and the concept of bio-indicators. A fine hot vegetarian meal and hot drinks were provided to warm everyone up while lots of questions were asked informally and we concluded the indoor session with an ensemble sing-song in which we all joined Toyin for the choruses of a song summarising the topics covered. We were so involved with all of this that we did not get around to checking any of the wine-ropes before 22.00hrs, by which time any of the moths that they attracted had departed! We finished with a vote of thanks to our hosts at Roots & Shoots and all those, including the catering volunteers, who had contributed to this interesting and enjoyable event, including the forty-plus people who had attended. Many people thanked us individually afterwards and we have been invited back. The records have been entered on the Roots & Shoots website and forwarded to Colin Plant as Moth Recorder for the London area, and to the National Moth Recording Scheme.