A World That is Not Obvious

Knowing we have a moth trap, a couple of friends asked this morning how many different moth species we've caught in the garden. In reply, I suggested they have a guess.

'How many do you reckon we've caught in the first six months of this year?' I said.

The answer surprised me, and made me think. I'll come back to it shortly.

First though, the final trap of June went like this: 133 moths of 55 species; two new for year, one new for garden. Nothing too dramatic, but a couple of favourites in the catch...

Nice and easy to ID, this one was new for the garden. Evidently not super-common, there are six Living Record entries in the Bridport area.

One of two Cabbage Moths last night, and our second record this year. Featured on six nights in 2022.

Scallop Shell is a stunning moth. We recorded just one here last year, and another in our son's garden in Lyme Regis (though it was somewhat outshone by two Orache Moths that night!) so very much a prize catch. It seems to be a moth at rather low density - there are only two other Bridport area entries on the Living Record map.

Silver Y, an uncommonly attractive common migrant. Six last night was a garden record.

Another favourite, the beautifully-marked Coronet has featured on seven nights so far in 2023. Will we better last year's 18 nights?

Our seventh Wormwood Pug of the year. Its abdomen is not as weirdly stumpy as the photo might suggest, but curled upward towards the camera. We recorded this species on nine nights in 2022, and there are only 11 other Bridport area entries on Living Record. It seems we do very well for some pugs, this one included. No idea why.

So, back to our friends' query. In answer to my suggestion that they guess how many moth species we've recorded in the garden since January 1st, one replied - tentatively - 'Thirteen?'

'More,' I said, hiding my astonishment.

'Twenty?'

'More.'

I shan't tell you how many increments were needed before we got even close to the actual figure, but it was lots. Each accompanied by cries of 'More?! Really?!' and ever-widening eyes.

The actual figure is 315.

In fact, that's 315 species recorded over 85 nights, spread across five months of activity. I cannot recall if I included blank nights, but trapping efforts are noted as follows: February (7), March (15), April (21), May (just 14 - a fortnight away didn't help) and June (28). The total number of moths recorded is 3,332.

The reason I can tell you all this is because I have laboriously entered it all on a spreadsheet wot I made. I hate spreadsheets with a passion, especially the tedious filling of them in, so this can only be a labour of love. I am vaguely curious to see if my masochistic enthusiasm will survive into next year. Anyway, the spreadsheet's existence has meant I have thus far made zero entries on Living Record, the preferred recording facilty of the Dorset Moth Group. And I have serious reservations about my ability to catch up with 85 nights of record entry on the 'official' system.

Living Record entries can be extracted as a spreadsheet (and I did so last year) but not in a format that I found particularly helpful. Which is why I made my own.

So, let's assume the worst, that my 2023 moth records get no further than my laptop. What is lost?

Up until June 2022, I think I can safely say that no moth records for this particular corner of Bridport had ever made it onto an 'official' database. So the thousands of moths which fly past this tiny garden have not previously been numerically recorded and available for analysis. The fact that for six months they were is doubtless of little consequence - the proverbial drop in the ocean - and I wonder to what use those numbers will ever be put?

Our aforementioned friends absolutely love the natural world, but clearly are unaware of the phenomenal biodiversity it supports. They were stunned at the sheer number of moth species locally, and I was especially pleased that I could tell them our moth trap has attracted exactly 315 of them so far this year. Of course, I know that big data is what tells us about distribution, population trends, and all that jazz; and that it might be used to help guide and focus conservation efforts. But, if our moth trap numbers get no further than my spreadsheet this year, I'll be happy enough to use them simply to blow the minds of nature-loving friends, and help them see a world that is not obvious.