Just a few of the common garden moths are illustrated here. When completely at rest, most species conceal their antennae under their wings, but the slightest disturbance brings the antennae forward, as seen in the eyed hawkmoth at the bottom of the page, to detect the source of the problem.
Brimstone moth
Identification: The butter-yellow wings with brown spots are unmistakable.
Flight time: April–October; 1–2 broods.
Distribution: Most of Europe.
Food plant: Hawthorn and many other rosaceous trees and shrubs, including cultivated plums and apples.
Caterpillar: A greyish-brown looper, very twiglike with a twin-pointed hump near the middle.
Notes: Adults readily come to lighted windows.
Lime hawkmoth
Identification: The wings range from green to rusty brown, but always have wavy edges.
Flight time: May–July.
Distribution: Much of Europe except Scotland, Ireland and the far north.
Food plant: Mainly lime, but also elm and alder and some other deciduous trees.
Caterpillar: Pale green with yellow streaks and a horn at the rear.
Notes: Adult lime and eyed hawks do not feed.
Eyed hawkmoth
Identification: Named for the eye-spots on the hindwings. Forewings usually pinkish brown. Always a chocolate patch on the thorax.
Flight time: May–September; two broods.
Distribution: Most of Europe, but not Scotland.
Food plant: Mainly willows and apple.
Caterpillar: Bluish-green with yellow stripes and a terminal horn; usually rests upside-down.
Notes: The moth scares its enemies by suddenly exposing its eye-spots when disturbed.
Elephant hawkmoth
Identification: The green and pink forewings, black and pink hindwings, and white legs readily identify this fast-flying moth.
Flight time: May–July.
Distribution: Most of Europe.
Food plant: Willowherbs, bedstraws and garden fuchsias.
Caterpillar: Dark brown with four eye-spots and a trunk-like snout that gives the insect its name.
Notes: Moth often feeds on honeysuckle at dusk.
Barred yellow
Identification: The colour and pattern readily identify this little moth.
Flight time: May–July.
Distribution: Most of Europe except for the far northern areas.
Food plant: Wild and cultivated roses.
Caterpillar: A pale green looper with yellow bands and a dark stripe along the back.
Notes: This hedgerow moth commonly rests with its abdomen pointing upwards.
Golden plusia
Identification: The golden forewings with a silvery figure-of-eight are unmistakable.
Flight time: June–September.
Distribution: Most of Europe, but rarely seen in Ireland.
Food plant: Mainly delphiniums in the garden.
Caterpillar: Leaf green with white spots and lines; only three pairs of stumpy prolegs.
Notes: Caterpillar gnaws through leaf veins, causing leaf to collapse around it like a tent.
Silver Y
Identification: Named for the silver ‘Y’ in the middle of the velvety-grey to black forewings.
Flight time: May–November.
Distribution: All Europe, but only as a summer visitor in Britain and all northern regions.
Food plant: A wide range of herbaceous plants.
Caterpillar: Plump and green with only three pairs of fleshy legs at the rear.
Notes: Flies by night and day, usually seen as a grey blur hovering at flowers.
If you have ever left the curtains open in a lighted room on a summer night, you will know that moths are attracted to lights: the window panes can be covered with the insects. This simple method can tell you a good deal about the moths in your garden, but a stronger light and a white sheet will reveal even more. Hang the sheet from a washing line, or simply spread it on the lawn, and shine the light on it. On a warm, overcast night the moths will stream in and they will often settle down on the sheet so that you can examine and identify them.
Sweet tongues
Many moths can be attracted to a sugary mixture daubed on walls or tree trunks. Every moth enthusiast has his or her own recipe, but rum, beer and molasses usually feature prominently. Mixed to a fairly thick consistency so that it does not run, it should be applied in narrow vertical patches at about head-height – high enough not to spoil your clothes if you accidentally lean on the surface. The moths sit around the edges of the meal and push their tongues into it until they have had their fill. Again, you need to sit up late to see them.
Moths attracted by light or sugar will not necessarily be living in your garden, but mated females may stay around long enough to lay eggs on the plants. Most of your visitors will actually be males, as these are the ones flying around in search of mates and most likely to be attracted, or perhaps distracted, by your light or sugar patches. The females are usually busy laying their eggs.
CONSERVATION TIP
When emptying a moth trap in the morning, ensure that you release the moths in dense vegetation, where they are safe from hungry birds. The latter soon get to know that a trap contains goodies and they often hang around in the hope of getting a good breakfast.
Pale-coloured flowers that open and release their scent at night provide the best re-fuelling stations for moths, so a moth garden should include night-scented stock, nicotiana (tobacco flower) and honeysuckle. Sweet Williams also attract plenty of moths, but one of the best for attracting the long-tongued hawkmoths is the beauty-of-the-night, which is also known as the marvel of Peru. Its slender, tubular flowers, ranging from white through yellow to red, open their nectar stores in late afternoon. Pussy willow catkins also sustain many moths in the spring.
A convolvulus hawkmoth probes some beauty-of-the-night flowers with a tongue which is about as long as its body.
The herald moth hibernates in the adult state and can often be found in sheds and cellars in the winter. It usually adopts a head-down position and is easily mistaken for a dead leaf.
WILDLIFE PROJECT – TRAPPING MOTHS
If you use just a sheet and a lamp, you need to stay up late yourself to see the moths, so you might prefer to use some form of trap around the light. Portable traps, powered by mains electricity or car batteries, can be bought from biological supply companies, but it is not difficult to make a simple trap with a large cardboard box.
Cut a hole in the top of the box to take a large plastic funnel, and put several sheets of egg-packing inside.
Suspend an ordinary lamp of 150–200 watts directly above the funnel to attract plenty of moths.
Moths hitting the light fall through the funnel and into the box, where they settle down comfortably in the hollows of the egg-packing. They can be examined in the morning and released unharmed.
Stan Dumican
Commercially available traps like this use ultra-violet lamps. They attract more moths than ordinary light bulbs.
The trap can be left on all night, but the lamp must have a transparent shield over it to protect it from rain. Cold rain hitting the hot lamp may cause it to shatter.
SAFETY TIP When using mains electricity, always ensure that all electrical connections are suitable for outdoor use and are well protected from rain and dew.
The following morning, you can carefully remove the egg-packing from the moth trap to study the captured moths before releasing them back into the wild. Trapped moths are quite sleepy in the morning and easily examined.
