June Moths

Fri 8th Jun, 2012

Many people are unaware that there are over 880 resident and migrant species of ‘macro’ moth (in general, those 1cm or more in length) alone in the British Isles, as opposed to 58 butterfly species, or that moths are not all brownish insects - though many are! Moths are actually hugely variable in shape, size, colour and markings. 

Although many moths fly by night, and numbers are down this year because of the cold, wet spring, there are quite a few species that you may come across in the daytime. 

The Yellow Shell moth is on the wing this month. The wings are yellow or orange-brown, patterned with narrow brownish and cream lines, although all you may see is a small yellow insect dancing past along a field edge or woodland ride! 

Another day-flying moth is the Chimney Sweeper, common on the chalk cliffs of East Yorkshire. These tiny, sooty-coloured moths often fly up as you walk through open grassland, especially where Pignut grows, as the larvae feed on this plant. 

Flying at twilight, but also often disturbed from plants during the daytime, is the Silver-ground Carpet. A small and very common moth, it is usually silvery-grey or whitish in colour with a darker wavy band across the forewing. 

Silver Y moths are named for the white, Y-shaped marking on the forewing. An immigrant moth which breeds in Britain, some years see ‘invasions’ of this species, and in late June of the year 2004 the moths were so numerous that they were piling on top of one another after sunset on the cliff-top at Flamborough. 

Night-flying moths are usually quite torpid during daylight hours, and a careful look in the vegetation of your garden might turn up a few surprises. Particularly if you have Honeysuckle in the garden, look for the spectacular Elephant Hawkmoth, a pink and olive insect with a wing length of around 3 cm.

You may notice some papery cocoons on plant stems at this time of year. These belong to Burnet moths. The commonest is the Six-spot Burnet, a colourful black and scarlet insect which is on the wing during daylight hours from late June into August and may be seen wherever species of thistle and knapweed are growing.