Moth Magic - an introduction to moths
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Moth Magic provides an introduction to moths, discussing their diversity, survival strategies, ecological roles, and importance in wildlife conservation. Over 160,000 moth species have been scientifically described, with many more awaiting discovery, as moths occupy almost all terrestrial habitats. Both adult and larval moths employ various survival strategies, including mimicry of plants, animals, and sounds. Moths play key ecological roles such as pollination, providing food resources, and nutrient recycling. Their high diversity and abundance make moths well-suited for monitoring environmental impacts and identifying high-value conservation areas. The document outlines methods for recording moths, including using lights, traps, nets, baits, rearing larvae, photography, and
Moth Magic - an introduction to moths
- 1. Moth Magic An Introduction to Moths by Dr. Roger C. KENDRICK C & R Wildlife, Hong Kong founder: Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium
- 2. Introduction to Moths • Diversity • Survival Strategies • Ecological Services • Role in Wildlife Conservation • Recording moths
- 3. Moth Diversity • over 160,000 scientifically described species • 150,000 to 200,000 thought to be awaiting description or discovery! (mostly in the tropics) • many ecological niches and almost all terrestrial habitats occupied • many species / higher taxa specially adapted to particular ecological niche, thus good indicators of habitat change, environmental impact or “quality”
- 4. Survival Strategies – Adult Moths Mimicry plants & lichens: leaves, twigs, tree trunks, (colour and shape/posture) animals: mammal faces; snakes; unpalatable insects – spiders, wasps, bees, poisonous moths & butterflies; bird droppings
- 5. Survival Strategies – Adult Moths Sound detection of ultrasound to avoid bats; emitting sound to advertise unpalatability (Arctiinae) or pacify bees (Acherontia) Colour use of simple bold bright patterns to advertise unpalatability flash colours to surprise
- 6. Survival Strategies – Moth Larvae Mimicry plants & lichens: leaves, twigs, tree trunks, (colour and shape/posture) animals: snakes; bird droppings
- 7. Survival Strategies – Moth Larvae Concealment crypsis; leaf rolling; leaf mining; webs; stem borers; root feeders; nocturnal feeders Colour use of simple bold bright patterns to advertise unpalatability
- 8. Ecological Services Pollination Food resources Nutrient Recycling Pest control
- 9. Role of Moths in Wildlife Conservation high biodiversity, high relative abundance and relative ease of identification make moths: 1. a good group for monitoring effects of ecological processes and factors that affect these processes 2. indicate habitats and landscapes likely to be of high conservation value
- 10. Role of Moths in Wildlife Conservation good for “hands on” demonstration of ecological strategies and connecting with nature
- 11. Recording Moths • Lights • Traps • Nets • Baits • Larvae • Photography • Weather • Keeping Records • Publishing
- 12. Lights Mercury vapour (MV) Actinic (ultraviolet/UV) Light Emitting Diode (LED) Tungsten (Incandescent) Halogen
- 13. “Traps” Sheet – needs to be manned at all times. Good in the tropics Not good for abundance samples. Box – “Heath” and “Skinner” traps. Catch retention reasonable, but a long way from perfect. Bucket – “Robinson” trap most efficient design, but still well short of 100% catch retention. Large traps not very portable, smaller versions for use with actinic tubes more portable.
- 14. Other important methods • Rearing – essential to understand the ecological role of each species. Takes time, manpower and lots of TLC. Will result in finding many species not recorded at light traps. • Baiting – species specific pheromone traps, “sugar” or “mineral” or even other baits. Intensive effort, usually for only a limited number of species. Don’t always get the target audience! • Netting – useful for diurnal and crepuscular species, also finding larvae (sweeping).
- 15. Photography digital camera macro function close focus control of flash best views to shoot for i.d. photo storage
- 16. Weather Light trapping: avoid high wind & heavy rain; light rain / mist and warm conditions seem best; in HK night time min between 17°C and 28°C optimal; in UK between 8°C and ? (not warm enough) – in Singapore not much variation (so what happens if there’s a rise in temperature?) larval searching: avoid heavy rain (everything washed away!) sugar/bait/pheromone: calm weather best Slide 16
- 17. Keeping Records • what was recorded; • where seen/collected; • when recorded; • who made the observation; • who made the id; • sight record, voucher specimen (where kept), or photo; • kept in notebook or on computer database; • submit data to appropriate organisation (e.g. national or local nature society, biological records centre, global data centre - GBIF).
- 18. Publishing individual records of note or a species life history; summary of a single recording event site or area lists changes in species seen or phenology (long term data), distribution . . .
- 19. Why are moths magic ? because . . . . Survival strategy: colours; shapes; behaviour Biodiversity: high species richness Involvement: community and individual Value: conservation, ecosystem and cultural
- 20. Acknowledgments: Attendees Thank you (Hong Kong) Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposia ALCS3 - Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India, 2010; ALCS4 - Nankai University, Tianjin, China, 2012.
- 21. Moth Magic - Questions ?
Editor's Notes
- #14: Sheet – labour intensive as needs to be manned at all times. Good in the tropics if large beetles and bugs are anticipated as this method minimises damage to specimens. Not good for abundance samples. Can be difficult to set up. Box – “Heath” and “Skinner” traps both useful as can be packed flat for work in the field. Catch retention reasonable, but a long way from perfect. Bucket – “Robinson” trap most efficient design, but still well short of 100% catch retention. Large traps not very portable, smaller versions for use with actinic tubes more portable.