Brown and Boring or Colourful and Cuddly? The Hidden Diversity of Moths
By Alice
April 2025
It is 7am on a Thursday morning, right in the middle of deadline season, and my alarm is telling me to get up. Regretting all of my past decisions that have led me to this moment, I haul myself out of bed, get dressed and cycle down to St Andrews Botanic Garden. Yesterday afternoon, I went there to set up a somewhat alien-looking plastic tub with a bright UV light on top – and it is now time to go and check on it.
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At first glance it appears empty. My heart sinks; I do not want to bring the small group of VIP students that have come along with me any more disappointment. However, as we begin to inspect the small mound of egg boxes piled up inside, we soon find what we are looking for... moths!
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We carefully turn over each box, grinning with delight at the tiny creatures sleeping inside. I must admit that I feel a small amount of pride when I am able to tell my fellow students what species they are, pointing out the subtle and not-so-subtle differences in their intricate wing markings. I then show the rest of the group how to pick them up to release them back into the vegetation, revelling in the look of wonder on their faces. It is a beautiful thing how much joy our species can derive from a species so much smaller than and different to ourselves. This joy instantly reminds me why I got up so early.
Short-Eared Owl flying by the Old Course. Source: Ian Gair
Photos of a Hebrew Character (left) and Common Quaker (right) found in our moth trap in March.
This was one morning out of several I have been able to spend moth trapping this semester as part of the Biodiversity Literacy VIP. I am lucky enough to have had experience moth trapping in my own garden prior to starting university, but here I have something that I have never had at home: the ability to share my excitement with others. When most people think of moths, I think that the clothes and carpet moths that wreak havoc within our houses tend to come to mind. I cannot blame anyone for not being excited about them. However, most people seem to be unaware of the incredible diversity of moths. There are around 2,500 different species in the UK, and everyone who has ever described moths to me as “brown and boring” could not be more wrong. But when it is still early in the year and the majority of the moths we catch are, admittedly, brown (although certainly not boring!), it is hard to expect my fellow students to show the same level of enthusiasm as me. And yet they do. And I cannot wait to show them just how colourful and diverse moths can be.
Although it is difficult to tell without looking at them through a microscope, moths are actually covered in lots of tiny scales. These provide their colouration and give them their somewhat fluffy-looking appearance. The diversity in moth colouration is incredible, especially if you have only encountered clothes and carpet moths before. For example, the Buff-tip looks identical to a small twig, and without them standing out against the uniform background of the moth trap I cannot imagine ever being able to discern one. There is also the Elephant Hawk-moth, which has become the figurehead for bright and colourful moths with its vivid pink-green contrast. The caterpillars, which are bright green or brown and have enormous eye spots to scare predators, feed on the ubiquitous weed Rosebay Willowherb and are actually really common. If you put a moth trap out on a warm night in June I can almost guarantee you will catch one of these moths.
Photos of a Buff-tip (left) and Elephant Hawk-moth (right) from my moth trap at home in previous years.
Moths are amazing. We always think of bees as pollinators, but we tend to overlook the role other species also play. Even though they don’t tend to spend a huge amount of time feeding as adults, moths are actually pretty important pollinators, and they might even be more efficient at pollinating than bees. They are also a crucial part of the food chain, and are the preferred food source for one of my favourite birds, the Nightjar. But let us not forget their most vital quality: their cuddliness. Much like puppies, when you open up your moth trap in the morning and they are drowsy and docile, they are more than happy to let you pick them up and serve as a pillow for them. What more can you ask for in an invertebrate?
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Moth trapping is more than just a hobby for me. With insects in rapid decline at the moment, the data moth trappers collect can be invaluable for their conservation. It has been a few years now since I began moth trapping, and even in this relatively short period of time, I have noticed that some of the species I have caught in previous years have visited my garden less frequently, or even stopped coming altogether. While this causes me a great deal of sadness, it also reinforces my faith in the importance of the work I am doing to record these moths.
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It is remarkable just how much peace and clarity half an hour outside recording moths can provide me. I am not necessarily suggesting that you go out and invest in a proper moth trap, although I have heard that hanging up a white sheet with a torch aimed at it (a UV light would be even better) can be effective. If that seems like too much effort, you might even be able to join me at the Botanic Garden one morning – keep an eye on the Biodiversity Literacy Instagram (@biodiversity.literacy). In any case, if you, too, find yourself stressed and in need of respite, I encourage you to spend half an hour outside – whether this be discovering the moths you never knew visited your garden at night, or simply going for a walk and observing what is around you. As I believe is true for perhaps every single one of our problems, the solution is to be found in nature.