Garden Moths Count

For this year's Garden Moths Count (20th–28th June 2009), Butterfly Conservation is seeking help in the search for Darwin's moth, the Peppered Moth.

Peppered Moths. (Photo: Chris Manley)

The Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) is one of the world's best-known examples of evolution by natural selection, Darwin's great discovery, and all the action happened (and continues to this day) here in Britain. In heavily polluted cities the normal, pale, speckled forms of the Peppered Moth were no longer camouflaged from predators on the soot-blackened trees. Black (called "melanic") versions of the Peppered Moth thrived in these situations and the normal form became quite rare. In recent decades, as pollution has been greatly reduced, the balance swung back the other way. Now black moths are more obvious on the lichen-encrusted tree trunks and so the speckled Peppered Moths have again come to dominate populations. But all is not well with Darwin's moth. Despite its amazing ability to survive the worst of the industrial revolution, numbers of Peppered Moths in Britain have fallen by 61% since the late 1960s. It is not clear what is causing this decline but we need the public's help to find out more. Does the Peppered Moth still live in your garden? If so, are they speckled or black?

Scarlet Tiger (Photo: Chris Manley)

In contrast, the beautiful Scarlet Tiger moth, which flies in the daytime, seems to be doing well. We think that is it spreading from its traditional strongholds in southwest England and south Wales, probably in response to climate change. However, we do not know how far the species has got. Is it in your garden?

Garden Moths Count is an exciting nationwide online survey and anyone can take part, young or old, without needing to be experts or have special equipment. In addition to the Peppered Moth and Scarlet Tiger, there are 18 other moths to look out for, all easily recognized and some that can be seen during the day. It takes place from 20th–28th June 2009 at www.mothscount.org.