Moths are completely and utterly underrated. Overshadowed by their beautiful butterfly counterparts, they are often seen as boring brown blobs. I wanted to change this perception and raise awareness for this little appreciated group of invertebrates! By working alongside my lecturers in the Bioscience department of University of Exeter back in 2013, we were able to secure funding from OPAL to launch a new project - Magic Moths.

 

The aims of this project were to 1) increase moth records for the area 2) to look at differences in moth populations between managed and non-managed reservoirs and 3) to engage a wider audience in our night lepidoptera.

 

Having secured the support of OPAL we were able to purchase 5 portable heath traps and the resources to run a large community engagement event to launch and promote the project. It was a really fun project to lead as it meant engaging a wide range of people in moth recording, and was especially rewarding seeing new attendees get excited about the moths we were finding! We took our traps to Penryn's local Primary School, advertised the project through our local wildlife groups, set up a community Facebook page, attended local events and then held a big recording event in the Summer - a Bioblitz.

 

By Winter 2013 we had recorded 152 species of moth at the reservoirs, 10 of which are Biodiversity Action Plan Species. We recorded an additional 321 non-lepidoptera species at our Bioblitz. A lovely outcome of this work has been a growing community of moth enthusiasts and records via our Facebook group. If you're interested in getting involved in moth recording in Cornwall, join the Facebook group here!

​

​