Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes

People now love the possible 17 species that roam our evening skies in the UK and want to protect them. The same might still be said for moths. They are starting to be accepted. No longer are they just nasty things that get into the clothes.

There is a whole new world of exquisite species out there which deserve our admiration. Experts have recently spent two years in a Sussex wood finding out which moths lived in the coppice and grassy rides.

Using light traps six nights each year when the weather was warm and calm, they discovered 306 different species in just one small grassy glade. The site is managed for wildlife, with hazel coppice cut on a regular eight-year rotation.

Oak and ash standards are cropped and replanted. There are wide grass rides to make deer culling possible. The reserve of only 40 acres teems with butterflies and birds, as well as many other rare insects. But the moth total surprised us all and shows just how rich little plots of Sussex woodland can be if only their owners would manage these properly for wildlife.

The moths caught, identified, and released comprised 59 micro moths, which obviously are usually tiny, and 246 macros, the size that people easily notice and see in car headlights.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette August 27