Mad about moths at WWT Martin Mere near Southport

WWT Martin Mere is full of fascinating moths, and we’ve recorded over 300 species.

Did you know there there are more species of moths than butterflies? Moths and butterflies are in the same family and have a lot in common. Some moths fly during the day, and some moths are brightly coloured. And although many people may think otherwise, only two species of moths in the UK eat clothes; they are tiny and brown and love dark places.

Some of the moths we catch have unusual names like uncertain, turnip and snout! Not all moths are brown and boring - some are huge and brightly coloured, like the elephant hawk moth, an unmissable bright pink moth.

Different moths have unique adaptations to avoid being eaten by bats. The ruby tiger can detect the bat's echolocation and, in response, folds up its wings and falls out of the sky. Some moths even squeak back at the bats to confuse their echolocation. Aren’t moths brilliant?

So how do we record moths?
To record species, we use a moth trap which is set overnight. Moth trapping simply involves attracting moths to a light source or food source so you can take a closer look at them. Our moth traps have a light at the centre, a funnel and egg boxes for the moths to hide within so not to cause any stress. Moths are attracted to light and they will enter the funnel and settle into the boxes overnight. Interestingly, you can not trap moths on a full moon as there are competing sources of light.

See them up close!
Why not join us for one of our moth trap sessions for the opportunity to get up close to these amazing creatures and take fantastic photos? Every day from 1 May until 31 August at 10:30am, open the moth trap to see what moths we have caught as well as find out all the weird and wonderful facts about moths