Although called Butterfly Conservation, the society also has an interest in the conservation of moths and their habitats. After all, moths and butterflies together form the order Lepidoptera, the divisions of which are artificially imposed.
Most branches have a moth officer whose remit is to help members take an interest in moths and our field trip programme usually includes several moth related events. The moth officer for the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Branch is John Murray John.Murray@open.ac.uk , assisted by Andrew Wood zoothorn@ntlworld.com. They are able to act as a point of contact between members and the county moth recorder. For Hertfordshire and Middlesex the county recorder is Colin Plant colinwplant@gmail.com.
Moths come in an amazing variety of sizes and colours, and different species can be found flying throughout the year including during the winter months. Here are just a small selection of the variety of species that can be encountered in our branch area.
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| 70.252 BF1931 Peppered moth Biston betularia © photo: Sandra Standbridge |
73.058 BF2221 The Mullein larva Cucullia verbasci © photo: Andrew Wood |
52.011 BF379 Red-belted Clearwing Synanthedon myopaeformis © photo: Ian Small |
66.007 BF1637 Oak Eggar (male) Lasiocampa quercus © photo: John Murray |
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| 70.155 BF1823 Netted Pug Eupithecia venosata |
70.276 BF1954 Bordered White Bupalus piniaria © photo: Liz Goodyear |
71.021 BF2008 Coxcomb Prominent Ptilodon capucina © photo: Liz Goodyear |
71.020 BF2011 Pale Prominent Pterostoma palpina © photo: Liz Goodyear |
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| 72.010 BF2033 Black Arches Lymantria monacha © photo: Liz Goodyear |
71.027 BF2019 Chocolate-tip Clostera curtula © photo: Liz Goodyear |
73.224 BF2247 Merveille du Jour Griposia aprilina © photo: Liz Goodyear |
71.025 BF1994 Buff-tip Phalera bucephala © photo: Liz Goodyear |
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| 69.007 BF1978 Pine Hawk-moth Sphinx pinastri © photo: Liz Goodyear |
71.017 BF2007 Swallow Prominent Pheosia tremula © photo: Liz Goodyear |
770.243 BF1922 Swallow-tailed Moth Ourapteryx sambucaria © photo: Liz Goodyear |
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| 71.003 BF1995 Puss Moth Cerura vinula © photo: Liz Goodyear |
69.003 BF1981 Poplar Hawk-moth Laothoe populi © photo: Liz Goodyear |
74.008 BF2422 Green Silver-lines Pseudoips prasinana © photo: Liz Goodyear |
In 2000 the
Herts & Middx Moth Group was formed and in 2008 the Moths of Hertfordshire was published. This book provides detailed
information on the distribution of Hertfordshire's moths. Previous to that in 1993, Colin Plant had written the Larger Moths of the London Area. This book provided detailed information on the status and distribution of the macrolepidoptera within the Greater London Area. Covering an area of 20 miles radius from St. Paul's Cathedral, this book therefore included the whole of Middlesex and the south of Hertfordshire.
All this information with up to date detailed distribution maps including the status of all moths in the area is now available to read
online on the Herts & Middx Moth Group website
The Herts Moth Group welcomes enquiries from branch members and provides regular moth events throughout the seasons where members of the public are welcome
