For those at camp
The camp fire is dying away, the hot dogs and hot chocolate (or other beverages) have been demolished, but is anybody ready to go to sleep? Not a chance! So, instead of saying “Lights Out”, how about saying “Lights On” and being amazed by the extraordinary variety of moths that fly around you, usually unnoticed, in the dark.

British moths – What are you looking for?
There are almost 2500 species of moth in Britain, and most of them fly at night. Like many other insects, they are an incredibly important part of our ecosystems, providing food for a range of animals such as bats and birds. Most of them become active at dusk as they start to search for food and mates. As the night goes on, the numbers flying tend to drop, but many are active right through to dawn. Moths are often thought of as being rather drab in appearance. However, many are richly coloured and intricately patterned, and some are truly spectacular, easily rivalling their butterfly cousins. Males tend to be more colourful than females, and many more males than females are attracted to light, mainly because the females tend to sit tight, emitting scents to attract the males. Surprisingly, we still do not fully understand why moths are attracted to light. However, this unexplained behaviour provides us with an excellent opportunity to observe their incredible variety.

How to attract the moths
Moth-hunting is really easy. The results are best on warm cloudy calm nights, but you are likely to catch some moths on any night, unless it rains heavily all night. Find a place as far away as reasonable from other lights, and hang up a white sheet vertically by tying it to branches or suspending it from a horizontal line. If possible, also put another white sheet on the ground beneath it and secure it with pegs or stones. In front of the vertical sheet (on or over the horizontal sheet if you have one) stand or suspend a bright tilley lamp or gas lamp. Make sure that there is no chance of the lamp falling or tipping and setting the sheet on fire! The moths will soon arrive and settle on the white sheets, where you can get a good look at them.



You won’t want to stay up all night, but you can encourage many of the later arrivals to stay till the next day by scattering some empty egg boxes below the vertical sheet (on the horizontal sheet if you have one, or just on the ground). Many of the moths that are attracted to the light will seek shelter in the egg boxes and will still be there next morning. They don’t like flying in the daylight, so you will have a chance to take a really close look at them before or after breakfast. When you have done so, just put them in a sheltered place nearby where nobody is likely to trample on them, and the next evening they’ll happily resume their normal lives.

How many different species have you caught?
Since there are so many types of moth to be found in Britain, you are unlikely to be able to put a name to many of the species you have caught. With the help of a good identification book (see ‘Further information’, below) you may be able to recognize some of the larger specimens or, if you are lucky, a local moth expert may be able to join you and help to identify your catch.

Without actually identifying the species, however, you can still get a good idea of the variety of moths you have found. You will find that some can be easily separated by their size or by a bold colour pattern. Look for distinctive colour markings or consistent patterns of light and dark colours to make an estimate of how many different species you have caught. If you have a magnifying lens, you will be able to distinguish the more intricate designs on the wings of the smaller species. On the sheets in the evening, you may see a variety of insects other than moths that are also attracted to light, but many of these will not take shelter in the egg boxes.

Moth-hunting and activity badges
This activity could count towards various badges in different programmes, such as the following.

Cubs
Programme zone: Discovering the world around you
Activity: Patterns in nature
Activity badges: Naturalist, Scientist.

Scouts
Programme zone: Global
Activity: Local nature or wildlife walk, survey local wildlife
Activity badges: Naturalist, Photographer.

Explorers
Programme zone: Environment
Activity: Complete any activity of a similar nature agreed beforehand with your leadership team
Activity badge: Naturalist.

You could add other skills to this activity. For example:
construct a pioneering structure to support the vertical sheet
make a trail (e.g. using luminous stars) that has to be followed to lead others to the moth-trapping site
learn how to use a tilley lamp.

At other times of year
National Insect Week is at the time of year when nights are at their shortest, so normal Pack, Troop and even Unit meetings will have finished too early to see the amazing variety of nocturnal insects. At other times of the year, you could try this activity at an evening meeting when it gets dark early enough and the weather is suitable. From autumn through to spring fewer moths will be found, but in most months some will be flying as long as it’s not very cold. Try it at various times of year or in a range of habitats and you will find different species.

Be a good neighbour
If you are moth-trapping on a camp site or near a residential area, be sure that the light – and any noise you make – does not disturb others.

Further information
An excellent book for identifying British moths is:
‘Field Guide to Moths of Great Britain and Ireland’ by Paul Waring and Martin Townsend illustrated by Richard Lewington (2003), British Wildlife Publishing, £29.95, ISBN 0953139921.